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MANAGEMENT 

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GIFT  OF 


SHEEP  FEEDING  AND  FARM 
MANAGEMENT 


BY 

D.  HOWARD  DOANE,  B.S.,  M.S. 

ASSISTANT  AGRICULTURIST  IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  FARM  MANAGEMENT 

UNITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE,  AND 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR,  IN  CHARGE,  OF  FARM  MANAGEMENT 

IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOURI 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •  NEW  YORK  •  CHICAGO  •  LONDON 


COPYRIGHT,  1912,  BY 
D.  HOWARD   DOANE 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 
912.4 


gtftcngum  jprcgg 

GINN  AND  COMPANY-  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  the  result  of  an  original  investigation  carried 
on  by  the  author,  covering  a  period  of  about  four  years.  It 
is  based  on  farm  practices  as  they  occur  in  the  United 
States,  —  particularly  in  the  Middle  West,  —  and  their 
relation  to  the  feeding  of  sheep  for  market. 

Its  purpose  is  to  furnish  to  those  interested  in  the  feed- 
ing of  sheep  for  market,  whether  students  or  farmers,  the 
information  that  will  enable  them  to  carry  on  the  necessary 
operations  profitably. 

The  student  desiring  to  inform  himself  regarding  the 
most  modern  and  profitable  methods  for  buying,  feeding, 
and  marketing  sheep,  instinctively  turns  to  the  literature 
on  the  subject.  Save  for  a  few  bulletins  on  experimental 
sheep  feeding,  he  finds  that  the  field  has  been  practically 
untouched.  He  sees  in  our  agricultural  press  frequent 
reports  and  comments  that  seem  to  point  to  this  phase  of 
farming  as  not  only  profitable  but  also  sound,  and  advis- 
able from  the  standpoint  of  the  economical  use  of  crops, 
the  conservation  of  soil  fertility,  and  the  saving  of  labor. 
Naturally  he  desires  a  reliable  and  practical  source  of  in- 
formation on  the  subject.  Hence  to  the  student  the  author 
would  commend  these  pages,  trusting  that  in  their  study 
he  will  find  the  answers  to  his  questions,  and  facts  and 
plans  that,  will  aid  him  in  his  future  farm  operations. 

Men  who  have  watched  somewhat  closely  the  sheep-feed- 
ing industry  of  our  country  know  that  it  is  rapidly  passing 
from  the  hands  of  the  professional,  the  speculator,  or  the 

45*1.832 


vi  SHEEP  FEEDING 

feeder  of  fifty  thousand,  into  the  hands  of  the  farmer  who 
handles  but  a  carload  or  two.  Hundreds  have  fed  sheep 
for  the  first  time  during  the  last  two  or  three  years,  and 
have  started  with  merely  a  little  uncertain  knowledge  that 
was  gleaned  from  a  neighbor.  For  these  it  is  hoped  that  a 
few  words  from  the  broad  experiences  of  many  of  the  most 
successful  sheep  men  in  the  United  States  will  prove  a 
means  by  which  some  of  the  "breakers"  in  the  sheep-feeding 
business  may  be  avoided. 

To  both  the  student  and  the  farmer  it  may  be  said  that 
the  greatest  success  will  come  only  after  an  extended  per- 
sonal experience ;  but  a  clear  understanding  of  the  needs, 
habits,  and  characteristics  of  sheep  will  be  found  an  invalu- 
able aid  to  each  if  he  wishes  to  get  his  first  lessons  at  a 
reasonable  price. 

To  those  who  follow  these  pages  to  the  end  it  will  be 
evident  that  there  has  been  no  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
author  to  make  of  them  a  scientific  treatise,  but  rather  just 
a  simple  discussion  of  practical  sheep-farm  practices  as  they 
have  been  found  in  operation  in  the  different  sections  of 
the  United  States.  No  one  man,  or  no  one  community,  is 
carrying  on  all  the  systems  that  are  outlined.  They  have 
been  found,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  one  man  adding 
a  word  and  another  affirming  it,  and  so  on  to  the  completed 
and  rounded  whole. 

To  those  who  have  so  generously  given  their  experiences, 
successes  and  failures,  ideas  and  opinions,  the  author  wishes 
to  extend  his  most  sincere  thanks,  for  without  their  broad- 
minded  and  public-spirited  help  this  work  would  have  been 
impossible.  It  is  from  the  farmers  and  those  interested  in 
their  welfare,  and  to  them  and  their  sons  and  daughters 
in  our  agricultural  schools  and  colleges  it  is  given. 


PKEFACE  vii 

To  Professor  W.  J.  Spillman,  head  of  the  Office  of  Farm 
Management,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
and  C.  Beaman  Smith  of  the  same  office,  Dean  F.  B. 
Mumford  of  the  Missouri  College  of  Agriculture,  and  Dean 
E.  Davenport  and  Professor  Herbert  W.  Mumford  of  the 
Illinois  College  of  Agriculture,  the  author  wishes  to  acknowl- 
edge his  indebtedness,  extend  his  most  sincere  thanks,  and 
express  his  appreciation  of  their  kind  and  invaluable  criti- 
cism of  the  manuscript  and  their  suggestions  for  its  im- 
provement. The  publication  of  the  book  was  made  possible, 
to  a  large  degree,  through  the  kindness  and  generosity  of 
these  men. 

All  the  photographs  not  labeled  were  taken  by  the  author, 
and  are  used  here  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Office  of  Farm 
Management,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Where  otherwise  stated,  they  were  loaned  through  the 
kindness  of  J.  V.  Henley  of  Greencastle,  Missouri.  To 
both  parties  the  author  wishes  to  express  his  appreciation. 

D.  HOWARD  DOANE 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  A  CLASSIFICATION  AND  DESCRIPTION  OF  NATIVE  AND 

WESTERN  MARKET  SHEEP 1 

II.  THE    DETERMINING    FACTORS    IN    THE    SELECTION    OF 

FEEDING  SHEEP 18 

III.  BUYING  THE  FEEDERS 26 

IV.  PROFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP     ....  39 
V.  GROWING  THE  FEED  FOR  FATTENING  SHEEP  ....  77 

VI.  MARKETING  THE  FAT  SHEEP 99 

VII.  RAISING  LAMBS  FOR  AN  EARLY  MARKET 109 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 123 

INDEX  .  127 


fat 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Study  in  Type  and  Form  for  Breeder  and  Feeder  .  .  Frontispiece 

Successful  Sheep  Husbandry  depends  largely  upon  the  Shepherd  xiv 

An  Excellent  Study  in  Downs 7 

Oregon  Sheep  on  their  Native  Pasture  .  12 

Dakotas  at  Home 15 

Yearlings  fed  experimentally  on  Corn  and  Clover  Hay  ...  23 

A  Few  Rams  selected  for  Breeding  Purposes  in  the  West  .  .  31 

A  Contrast  in  Type  in  Western  Lambs 35 

A  Field  of  Corn  and  Cowpeas 41 

Under  Most  Conditions  Lambs  will  graze  the  Undergrowth  with- 
out eating  the  Corn 45 

Dogs  are  often  a  Great  Help,  but  are  seldom  used  in  driving 

Fat  Sheep 47 

Here  it  was  planned  to  have  the  Sheep  consume  the  Corn  as 

well  as  the  Undergrowth 51 

A  Band  of  Western  Lambs  on  Feed  according  to  System  IV  .  55 
An  Orphan  Lamb  is  often  the  First  Live  Stock  owned  by  the 

Boy  on  the  Farm 57 

Mexican  Yearlings  receiving  Corn  on  Blue-Grass  Pasture  .  .  59 

Plan  for  building  Feeding  Yards  and  Grain  Troughs  ....  62 

A  View  of  the  Troughs  shown  in  the  Diagram  on  Page  62  .  .  63 

Crushing  Ear  Corn  for  Sheep 69 

Interior  of  one  of  the  Large  Barns  at  a  Sheep-Feeding  Station 

adjacent  to  Chicago 73 

Posing.  From  their  Pictures  we  may  study  Sheep  Character  .  75 
Cowpeas  not  only  furnish  Cheap  and  Excellent  Lamb  Feed  but 

also  aid  materially  in  improving  Soil  Texture  and  Fertility  .  79 
Rape  furnishes  a  Cheap  and  Efficient  Roughness  when  fed  in 

Conjunction  with  Corn 85 

Sixteen-Foot  Wooden  Hurdles,  easily  made  and  moved  ...  87 

The  Head  of  a  Yearling  Ram 91 

xi 


xii  SHEEP  FEEDING 

PAGE 

Sheep  like  a  Variety  of  Feeds 93 

A  Carload  of  Lambs  which  were  purchased  for  Six  Dollars 
and  Forty  Cents  and  sold  for  Six  Dollars  and  Thirty-Five 

Cents  per  Hundredweight 95 

Boys  and  Lambs  a  Good  Combination 97 

Ideals  for  the  Feeder 102 

A  Bunch   of   Fat   Yearlings  just  before   being  loaded  to   be 

shipped  to  Market .     105 

The  First  Lesson 110 

Soon  the  Lambs  learn  the  Advantages  of  the  Little  Extras 
and  eagerly   seek  the   Warm   Contents   of  the   Bottle  the 

Wise  Shepherd  carries    ...  . Ill 

The  Ram  is  Half  the  Flock .'..'..     113 

The  Results  of  One  Cross  with  a  Pure-Bred  Shropshire  Ram 

on  a  Western  Ewe 114 

Just  a  Few  Hours  old  and  weighs  Twelve  Pounds       .     .     .     .     115 
Month-Old    Lambs    out    of    Western    Ewes    by    a    Pure-Bred 

Shropshire  Ram,  raised  under  Field  Conditions       .     .     .     .     116 
Successful  Sheep  Raising  does  not  demand  Expensive  Build- 
ings      117 

Runway  in  Sheep  Barn 119 

Lambing  Pens  for  Ewes 121 


SUCCESSFUL  SHEEP  HUSBANDRY  DEPENDS  LARGELY  UPON  THE  SHEPHERD. 
IT  IS  OFTEN  SAID,  ff  TlIE  EYE  OF  THE  MASTER  FATTENS  THE  FLOCK" 


SHEEP  FEEDING  AND  FARM 
MANAGEMENT 

CHAPTER   I 

A  CLASSIFICATION  AND  DESCRIPTION  OF  NATIVE  AND 
WESTERN  MARKET  SHEEP 1 

An  attempt  to  classify  and  describe  market  sheep  is  at- 
tended with  no  few  difficulties.  Especially  does  this  apply 
to  Western  sheep,  for  there  is  practically  nothing  written, 
and  very  little  known,  by  the  average  sheep  man  concern- 
ing them.  Even  our  best  present-day  authorities  seem  to 
differ  quite  widely  in  their  opinions  at  times.  Indeed,  it 
is  hard  to  point  out  any  very  exact  and  close  distinctions 
between  the  sheep  from  the  different  Western  regions  and 
states,  but  experienced  market  men  seem  to  see  and  know 
a  difference,  and  one  glance  will  generally  be  sufficient  for 
them  to  tell  from  what  state  any  given  band  or  flock  has 
come.  With  a  hope  of  correlating  and  putting  into  concrete 
form  this  rather  hazy  and  indefinite  mass  of  knowledge  this 
chapter  has  been  attempted,  for  Western  sheep  form  by  far 
the  bulk  of  the  trade  in  sheep  circles  on  our  markets. 

The  following  outlines  are  given  in  as  brief  and  simple  a 
form  as  possible,  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  divide 

1  The  term  ' f  market  sheep,1'  as  used  here,  means  all  sheep,  whether  fat 
or  thin,  not  included  in  the  breeding  classes;  and  the  word  "sheep," 
when  used  alone,  refers  to  all  ages. 

1 


DEEDING 


the  subciassesinto  grafted  ©Vgiv'e  a  description  of  what  con- 
stitutes a  prime,  choice,  good,  medium,  or  common  sheep. 
The  classes  and  subclasses  named  here  are  those  recognized 
on  all  our  markets,  and  are  the  ones  most  important  for 
a  feeder  to  know  when  buying  or  selling  sheep. 
CLASSES  SUBCLASSES 

C  Lambs 
Yearlings 

Natives <<  Wethers 

Ewes 

Rams  and  cull  sheep 
C  Lambs 

Yearlings 
Westerns J  Wethers 

Ewes 
L  Rams  and  cull  sheep 

NATIVE  SHEEP 

Two  general  classes  of  feeding  sheep.  All  feeding  sheep 
may  be  divided  into  two  broad  and  general  classes,  natives 
and  Westerns.  By  native  sheep  we  mean  those  that  come 
from  the  middle  and  eastern  states.  As  a  rule  they  can  be 
distinguished  by  a  predominance  of  Down 1  blood,  shown  in 
a  more  or  less  rounded  and  compact  form,  dark  color  of  face 
and  legs,  smooth  unwrinkled  skin  or  pelt  (which  refers  to 
both  wool  and  skin),  and  a  rather  compact  coating  of  medium 
wool.  The  first  native  sheep  that  reach  the  markets,  the 
lambs,  generally  come  in  May.  These  early  shipments  and 
all  that  are  marketed  before  the  hot  days  of  summer  are 
eagerly  sought  by  the  killers.  From  this  time  on,  however, 
stomach  worms,  flies,  warm  weather,  and  short  pastures  make 

1  "Down,"  or  "Downs,"  refers  to  our  breeds  of  sheep  called  Oxfords, 
Hampshires,  Shropshires,  and  Southdowns. 


NATIVE  AND  WESTERN  MARKET  SHEEP         3 

a  bad  showing  on  the  lamb  crop,  and  judging  from  the  small 
amount  of  flesh  they  carry,  these  late  arrivals  should  at  once 
be  placed  in  the  feeder  classes.  If  they  are,  it  is  only  the 
novice,  unfortunately,  that  takes  them  out  to  feed,  for  in  the 
majority  of  cases  they  prove  unprofitable  consumers  of  grain 
and  roughness,  and  the  per  cent  of  loss  generally  runs  quite 
high.  In  the  writer's  opinion  there  is  no  good  reason  why 
native  sheep  should  continue  to  hold  on  the  market  the 
secondary  place  that  they  have  to,  especially  when  the  highest 
honors  are  held  by  sheep  that  are  bred,  and  in  many  cases 
inbred,  so  indiscriminately  that  we  often  hear  Western  men 
reply,  in  answer  to  a  question  regarding  the  breeding  of  their 
sheep,  "  Oh,  I  don't  know;  they  ain't  got  no  breeding."  Also 
the  water  and  feed  that  Western  sheep  often  have  to  subsist 
on  would  be  considered  by  Middle  West  farmers  as  starva- 
tion rations.  When  in  such  competition  it  seems  strange 
indeed  that  those  with  the  stock  of  superior  breeding  and 
feeding,  according  to  our  modern  ideas,  should  be  content  to 
hold  a  secondary  place.  Even  more  strange  does  this  seem, 
and  greater  appear  the  possibilities,  when  we  are  told  by 
market  men  that  the  best  native  sheep  that  reach  the  market 
are  better  than  the  best  Westerns.  The  only  explanation 
seems  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Western  sheep 
average  better  than  the  natives.  Western  sheep  men  carry 
on  their  operations  as  a  business,  whereas  the  majority  of 
natives  are  handled  as  a  side  line.  If  a  word  of  prophecy 
may  be  allowed  here,  it  will  be  that  these  conditions  will 
not  always  exist  and  the  farmer  with  the  best  advantages 
will  assert  his  ability  and  take  the  lead,  as  he  justly  should. 
But,  regardless  of  our  wishes  and  prophecies,  native  sheep 
are  as  a  rule  unprofitable  feeders,  because  most  Middle 
West  sheep  farms  are  infested  with  stomach  worms.  The 


4  SHEEP  FEEDIKG 

ewes  carry  these  worms  or  eggs  over  winter,  and,  while 
grazing  the  pastures  in  the  spring,  scatter  through  their 
manure  the  eggs,  which  finally  hatch  and  infest  the  tender 
grass  spots  that  the  lambs  so  eagerly  seek.  Thus  the  lambs 
become  infested,  and,  as  the  pastures  get  short  and  the  days 
hot,  the  lambs  become  poor  and  emaciated,  and  then  it  is 
that  the  worms  work  their  havoc.  Indications  of  worms  in 
sheep  are  well  described  by  Joseph  E.  Wing  in  his  book 
"Sheep  Farming  in  America."  He  is  speaking  to  the  man 
who  is  looking  for  feeders  on  the  market,  and  says,  "  Here 
are  some  natives,  big  enough,  but  their  lackluster  eyes  and 
sunken  wool  and  general  air  of  discouragement  speak, 
surely,  of  an  internal  revenue  department  held  under  the 
rule  of  predatory  parasitic  worms."  By  these  signs  they 
are  known,  and  by  these  signs  avoid  them.  Of  course 
there  are  native  sheep- not  infested  with  worms,  that  reach 
the  market  in  good  health,  and  in  some  few  cases  are  thin 
enough  to  go  to  the  feed  yards,  but  the  majority  of  healthy 
natives  that  reach  the  market  go  to  the  killers.  There  are 
few,  if  any,  cases  when  it  is  wise  for  a  beginner  to  start  with 
native  sheep  to  feed.  The  old  experienced  feeder  may  in 
some  cases  find  it  advisable  to  handle  a  bunch  of  them,  but 
before  attempting  it  he  should  be  sure  that  his  judgment 
is  sound  regarding  a  healthy  sheep,  and  that  his  conditions 
at  home  will  permit  of  their  profitable  feeding. 

A  second  reason  that  some  feeders  give  for  avoiding  even 
the  healthy  natives  is  because,  they  say,  they  are  accus- 
tomed to  good  pasture  and  care  where  they  are  raised,  —  at 
least,  as  compared  to  the  bleak,  scantily  grassed  pastures 
of  the  West,  —  and  when  taken  to  a  feed  yard  where  con- 
ditions are  not  the  best  they  will  not  thrive  like  a  West- 
ern sheep. 


NATIVE  AND  WESTERN  MARKET  SHEEP         5 

NATIVE  LAMBS 

Native  lambs  purchased  by  the  packers.  In  speaking  of 
the  native  subclasses  it  may  be  said  that  the  lambs  that 
reach  the  markets  during  May,  June,  and  July,  weighing 
from  sixty  to  ninety  pounds,  go  as  a  rule  direct  to  the 
killers,  and  it  is  these  lambs  that  make  the  most  money  for 
their  raisers.  After  July  and  for  the  next  three  months  the 
late  and  more  unfortunate  ones  appear.  Apparently  it  is 
finishing  that  these  lambs  need,  but  the  wise  feeder  passes 
them  by. 

Native  lambs  are  classed  as  lambs  on  the  market  until 
the  following  crop  comes  in ;  but,  when  a  lamb  that  was 
dropped  in  the  spring  of  1906,  for  instance,  comes  to 
market  sheared  in  the  spring  of  1907,  it  is  called  a  year- 
ling, regardless  of  whether  it  is  twelve  months  old  or  not. 

NATIVE  YEARLINGS 

Native  yearlings  not  the  best  feeders.  A  native  yearling 
is  just  what  the  name  implies,  —  a  wether,  as  a  rule,  a  year 
old  and  under  two.  Native  sheep  that  reach  the  markets 
as  yearlings  are  generally  late  lambs  that  were  not  heavy 
enough  to  go  with  the  lamb  shipment  the  year  before,  and 
hence  were  carried  over  the  winter,  sheared  in  the  spring, 
fattened,  and  shipped  out  with  the  next  crop.  This  practice 
is  not  widely  followed,  but  those  who  do  follow  it  should 
remember  that  to  carry  lambs  successfully  over  winter  they 
must  be  free  from  stomach  worms;  and  it  is  well  also  to 
remember  that  a  ewe  which  will  shear  about  as  much  wool 
and  drop  a  lamb  besides  can  be  kept  on  what  it  takes  to 
make  a  yearling  marketable. 


6  SHEEP  FEEDING 

NATIVE  WETHERS 

Few  native  wethers.  A  wether,  in  market  parlance,  is 
any  castrated  male  two  years  old  and  over.  Very  few 
native  wethers  reach  the  market.  Farmers  find  it  more 
profitable  to  stock  their  farms  with  ewes  than  to  keep  the 
male  lambs  until  they  are  two  or  three  years  old  just  for 
the  wool. 

NATIVE  EWES 

Cull  native  ewes  not  reliable  breeders.  As  a  rule  native 
ewes  reach  the  market  as  aged  stuff,  because  the  average 
Middle  West  farmer  keeps  up  his  flock  by  raising  the  ewe 
lambs;  hence  the  females  are  not  generally  disposed  of 
until  they  have  served  their  most  useful  days  as  breeders, 
or  become  infested  with  worms.  Native  ewes  seldom  change 
hands  as  feeders.  Some  of  the  best  of  them  go  south  for 
breeding  flocks,  to  be  kept  for  a  year  or  two  and  then  re- 
placed. It  is  seldom  advisable  to  start  a  breeding  flock 
from  this  class  of  ewes. 

NATIVE  RAMS  AND  CULL  SHEEP 

Too  many  native  cull  sheep.  The  scrubby  lambs  and  cull 
sheep  are,  unfortunately,  quite  too  abundant  in  the  native 
classes.  The  fact  that  large  numbers  of  native  ram  lambs 
reach  the  market  each  year  run  down  in  flesh,  coarse,  and 
unfinished,  is  unpardonable.  This  condition  is  due  to  the 
neglect  of  the  farmer  and  his  fear  of  loss  from  castration. 
Ram  lambs  can  be  safely  and  profitably  castrated,  and  when 
the  farmer  realizes  this  and  puts  it  into  practice  we  may  then 
look  for  a  reduction  in  this  class  of  sheep,  which  is  wanted  by 
no  one  and  is  sold  to  reluctant  bidders  at  their  own  prices. 


8  SHEEP  FEEDING 

WESTERN  SHEEP 

Western  sheep  come  from  west  of  the  one  hundredth  merid- 
ian. Western  sheep  are  those  that  are  raised  in  that  part  of 
the  United  States  that  in  a  general  way  lies  west  of  the  one 
hundredth  meridian,  or  the  line  that  divides  the  humid  and 
the  semiarid  regions  of  the  Great  Plains,  running  through 
the  central  portions  of  North  and  South  Dakota,  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  Oklahoma,  and  Texas. 

Old  Spanish  Merino  the  foundation  of  early  Western  flocks. 
It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  early  Spanish  Merino  had 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  formation  of  our  first  Western 
flocks.  In  support  of  this  belief  we  can  see  to-day  marked 
evidences  of  Merino  blood  in  most  of  the  Western  ewes. 
In  some  states  subsequent  crossing  with  pure-bred  Down 
or  coarse-wooled  rams  has  almost  obliterated  all  evidences  of 
this  early  blood.  In  others  Merino  sires  have  been  used  of 
late  years  and  Merino  characteristics  predominate ;  while 
in  other  regions  so  little  new  blood  of  any  kind  has  been 
introduced  that,  as  a  result,  a  class  of  sheep  remains  that  is 
hard  to  classify  with  reference  to  any  of  our  modern  breeds. 

Western  lambing  season  covers  long  period.  Lambing 
season  in  the  West  extends  over  quite  a  long  period,  begin- 
ning in  late  winter  in  the  south  and  not  finishing  until  May, 
and  in  some  cases  until  June,  in  the  north.  However,  the 
lambs  are  not  marketed  in  order  of  age,  for  some  of  the 
first  to  reach  the  market  are  the  Idahos.  In  Idaho  they 
have  a  quick-maturing  type  of  sheep,  largely  Downs,  and 
this,  with  abundant  early  rains,  produces  an  early  fat  lafnb. 
The  order  or  succession  in  which  the  sheep  are  marketed 
does  not  depend  so  much  on  age  as  on  how  early  or  late 
the  season  may  be,  the  abundance  or  scarcity  of  grass,  the 


NATIVE  AND  WESTERN  MARKET  SHEEP         9 

prevailing  market  prices  for  lambs  and  wool,  the  relation  or 
margin  between  the  two,  and  the  amount  of  stock  on  hand. 

A  dry  climate  excellent  for  sheep.  Western  sheep  are 
noted  for  their  hardiness  and  freedom  from  internal  para- 
sites. Their  ranges,  as  compared  to  the  pastures  of  the 
Middle  States,  are  scanty  and  dry,  the  grass  is  short  but 
very  nutritious,  and  these  conditions  have  developed  a  class 
of  sheep  that  are  great  rustlers  and  gain  wonderfully  when 
well  cared  for  and  fed.  A  dry  climate  is  ideal  for  sheep, 
and  so  when  they  reach  the  Middle  West  and  are  turned 
into  muddy  fields  and  left  exposed  to  the  cold  rains  of  fall 
and  early  winter,  the  farmer  need  expect  nothing  but  ill 
success  with  them.  Western  sheep  receive  no  grain  while 
on  the  range,  and  when  brought  to  Middle  West  feed  yards 
must  be  taught  how  to  eat  it.  This  point  demands  great 
care  and  judgment,  and  will  be  discussed  later. 

Seven  main  Western  sheep  regions.  As  has  been  said, 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  difference  between  sheep  from  some 
of  the  different  states,  and  very  little  between  others,  but 
market  men  are  as  wont  to  call  Western  sheep  by  their  state 
names  as  breeders  of  pure-bred  sheep  are  to  speak  of  the 
different  breeds  by  their  breed  names.  It  might  be  difficult 
to  distinguish  between  Arizonas  and  Mexicans,  for  instance, 
but  one  glance  would  suffice  to  show  a  vast  difference  be- 
tween Mexicans  and  Montanas.  As  it  is  quite  helpful  for 
a  buyer  to  know  the  different  characteristics  of  the  sheep 
of  different  states,  a  brief  description  of  each  has  been  at- 
tempted. In  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  group  the  different 
states  or  sections  of  states  together,  it  has  been  done,  and 
the  following  classifications  are  based  on  seven  regions, 
which  are  shown  on  the  map  on  page  10.  The  purpose  of 
the  map  is  to  unify  and  present  in  a  concrete  way  the 


10 


SHEEP  FEEDING 


different  Western  regions.  It  is  not  intended  to  establish 
hard  and  fast  boundary  lines.  Sheep  of  Region  1  will  be 
known  as  Calif  ornians,  of  Region  2  as  Oregons,  of  Region  3 
as  Idahos,  of  Region  4  as  Montanas,  of  Region  5  as  Dakotas, 
of  Region  6  as  Wyomings  or  Colorados,  and  of  Region  7  as 
Mexicans  or  Arizonas.  These-names  are  applied  arbitrarily. 


*  8 


4 
W  O  tf  T- 


u  o 


Y  O. 


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DAK. 


6 
G 

COLO. 


7 

7 

N.  M  E  X. 


TEXAS 


Region  1 ,  Calif  ornians.  This  region  contains  a  variety  of 
classes  of  sheep,  mainly  of  fine-wooled  1  breeding.  Lambing 
season  extends  over  a  good  part  of  the  year,  and  most  of  the 
sheep  and  lambs  go  to  the  city  markets  of  the  Western  coast. 

1  "Fine-wooled  "  refers  to  the  Merinos,  Rambouillets,  and  others. 


NATIVE  AND  WESTERN  MAEKET  SHEEP       11 

Region  2,  Oregons.  This  region  is  noted  for  producing 
a  uniformly  high  type  of  fine-wooled  sheep.  Ewes  are 
heavy  shearers  and  are  raised  for  breeders,  being  sold  as 
yearlings  to  Western  flock  owners.  They  make  excellent 
ewes  to  cross  with  coarse-wooled 1  or  Down  rams.  Not 
many  of  the  lambs  from  these  sheep  reach  our  Eastern 
markets  fat,  for  they  are  shipped  so  far  that  the  heavy 
shrinkage  makes  them  feeders,  though  exceedingly  good 
ones,  by  the  time  they  reach  the  East. 

Region  3,  Idahos.  This  region  produces  a  very  fine  fat 
lamb  that  is  the  first  to  reach  the  markets,  shipments  be- 
ginning in  July.  Lambs  show  a  high  per  cent  of  Down 
blood,  with  dark  faces,  quite  smooth  pelts,  and  medium 
bone ;  and  they  bring  high  prices,  for  they  are  known  on 
the  market  as  "  high  dressers."  They  weigh  from  sixty  to 
seventy-five  pounds. 

Region  4,  Montanas.  This  region  produces  a  type  of 
sheep  showing  both  fine-  and  coarse-wooled  breeding,  with 
white  faces,  and  in  some  cases  quite  heavy  pelts  and  bone. 
They  make  better  yearlings  and  wethers  than  lambs,  for  they 
have  large  frames  and  do  not  reach  the  market  fat.  They 
have  quite  a  feeder  demand,  and  are  marketed  from  Sep- 
tember to  November.  The  lambs  are  from  five  to  seven 
months  old  when  marketed,  and  weigh  from  fifty  to  seventy 
pounds,  wethers  weighing  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  ten  pounds. 

Region  5,  Dakotas.  This  region  is  going  out  of  the 
sheep  business,  but  at  present  produces  a  high-bred  Down, 
with  a  black  face,  smooth  pelt,  and  medium  bone  and  wool. 
These  sheep  reach  the  market  in  October  and  November, 
but  are  not  fat,  hence  go  as  feeders. 

1  fr  Coarse-wooled  "  refers  to  the  Cotswolds,  Lincolns,  and  others. 


** 


12 


NATIVE  AND  WESTERN  MARKET  SHEEP       13 

Region  6,  Wyomings  or  Colorados.  This  region  shows 
the  greatest  variety  of  breeding.  The  borders  are  inclined 
to  resemble  the  adjoining  territories.  Fine-wooled,  Down, 
and  coarse-wooled  rams  have  been  used,  but  no  inbreeding. 
A  great  many  of  these  sheep  are  fed  in  Colorado.  Lambs 
weigh  from  sixty  to  eighty  pounds,  have  a  medium  pelt 
and  bone,  a  white  to  dark  face,  and  reach  the  market  from 
August  to  September. 

Region  7,  Mexicans  or  Arizonas.  This  class  of  sheep 
shows  the  least  improvement  of  all  in  breeding.  In  many 
cases  they  are  badly  inbred,  and  when  new  blood  has  been 
introduced  it  has  generally  been  by  fine-  or  coarse-wooled 
rams.  They  have  a  fine  bone,  light  pelt,  white  face,  coarse 
hairy  wool,  and  are  marketed  from  August  to  September, 
many  going  to  the  Colorado  feeders.  These  sheep  are  among 
the  best  killers  that  reach  the  market,  and  when  thin  are  very 
popular  with  the  feeders,  and  when  fat,  with  the  butchers. 

WESTERN  LAMBS 

Western  lambs  most  numerous  of  all  feeders.  Western 
lambs  form  from  seventy  to  eighty  per  cent  of  the  trade  in 
Western  sheep.  They  reach  the  stockyards  from  the  range  at 
from  four  to  eight  months  of  age  and  weigh  from  forty -five  to 
eighty  pounds.  It  is  the  common  practice  for  the  packers  to 
take  the  tops,  or  the  fattest  ones,  out  of  almost  every  bunch 
that  reaches  the  markets,  and  those  that  are  left  go  to  the 
feeders.  This  does  not  mean,  necessarily,  that  the  feeder 
gets  the  culls,  but  rather  those  that  do  not  carry  the  re- 
quired amount  of  fat  for  the  killers.  The  Western  grass 
lambs  are  quite  well  liked  by  the  butchers,  for  when  they 
reach  the  market  they  are,  in  most  cases,  well  shrunk  out 
and  dress  a  high  per  cent.  Western  lambs  are,  in  some 


14  SHEEP  FEEDING 

cases,  classed  as  lambs  until  they  are  from  thirteen  to  four- 
teen months  old.  For  instance,  if  a  feeder  takes  out  a  bunch 
of  lambs  in  November  or  December  and  does  not  bring  them 
back  until  March  or  April,  — and  in  such  cases  they  are  gen- 
erally shorn,  —  they  will  then  be  classed  as  shorn  Western 
lambs  though  they  may  be  fourteen  months  old ;  while  on 
the  same  day  a  part  of  the  same  band  of  lambs,  that  was 
kept  on  the  range,  will  reach  the  market  shorn,  and  they 
will  be  called  yearlings.  In  fact,  a  Western  sheep  that  is 
direct  from  the  range  and  has  been  shorn  is  classed  as  a 
yearling  even  if  it  is  not  twelve  months  old.  Of  course  the 
teeth  are  the  final  and  deciding  test  and  the  one  used  by 
the  packer  when  buying  in  the  yards,  but  it  is  entirely  dis- 
regarded after  the  sheep  is  on  the  hooks.  Here  the  test 
depends  on  whether  it  "  breaks  a  lamb  joint "  or  not,  which 
means  that  if  the  joint  which  corresponds  to  the  pastern 
joint  of  a  horse  breaks  rough,  the  sheep  is  then  classed  as 
a  lamb  whether  lamb  or  yearling,  provided  the  yearling  is 
not  too  heavy.  If,  however,  the  joint  breaks  smooth,  as  a 
joint  in  the  leg  of  the  chicken  breaks,  then  it  is  called  a 
yearling,  —  unless  lambs  are  high  and  scarce  and  it  seems 
necessary  to  run  in  some  yearlings  ;  then  the  joint  is  crimped, 
or  made  rough,  by  a  machine  that  some  packers  make  a 
practice  of  using.  One  who  has  seen  both  the  natural  lamb 
joint-break  and  the  crimp  cannot  be  fooled  on  the  latter,  for 
it  is  more  even  and  regular  than  the  natural  rough  break. 

WESTERN  YEARLINGS 

Yearlings  hardier  than  lambs.  Perhaps  the  next  most 
numerous  Western  subclass  is  the  yearling  wethers,  gen- 
erally called  yearlings.  This  class  may  reach  the  market 
from  the  range  any  time  of  the  year,  but  the  majority  are 


15 


16  SHEEP  FEEDING 

shipped  during  the  fall  months,  for  at  this  time  the  feeder 
demand  is  at  its  height.  Yearlings  are  hardier  than  lambs, 
will  stand  more  exposure,  and  will  do  better  on  second- 
grade  feed.  In  the  feed  yard  they  grow  but  little,  almost 
all  the  gain  being  fat.  Yearlings  weigh  from  sixty-five  to 
one  hundred  pounds  on  the  market  when  they  are  direct 
from  the  range. 

WESTERN  WETHERS 

Wethers  the  hardiest  of  all.  The  heaviest  Western  sheep 
that  reach  the  market  are  the  wethers,  weighing  as  much 
as  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  in  some  cases,  and  sel- 
dom less  than  ninety  pounds,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
Mexicans,  that  sometimes  drop  down  to  the  weight  of  an 
average  lamb.  The  wethers  are  perhaps  the  most  rapid 
gamers  and  heaviest  consumers  of  feed  that  we  have.  They 
will  do  better  under  rough  and  adverse  conditions  than 
either  of  the  other  younger  classes,  and  will  consume  a 
poorer  grade  and  kind  of  feed,  but  it  requires  a  little 
more  margin  to  feed  wethers  than  lambs.  Among  the  best 
wethers  to  reach  the  market  are  the  big  coarse-  and  fine- 
wooled  crosses  from  Montana.  The  best  fat  wethers  fill 
our  export  trade. 

WESTERN  EWES 

Good  Western  ewes  better  breeders  than  feeders.  Many  of 
the  Western  ewes  that  are  shipped  East  have  broken  mouths. 
This  term  must  not  be  taken  too  literally,  for  it  simply  refers 
to  ewes  with  mouths  that  are  broken  of  a  full  set  of  teeth. 
It  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  all  the  teeth  are  gone, 
although  this  is  sometimes  the  case.  When  a  ewe's  teeth 
are  gone  or  broken  to  the  extent  that  it  interferes  with  her 


NATIVE  AHt>  WESTERH  MARKET  SHEEP      17 

eating,  she  is  said  to  have  a  broken  mouth.  Such  ewes  are 
from  five  to  six  years  old  and  up.  Under  range  conditions 
their  most  useful  days  have  passed,  but  Middle  States 
farmers  who  can  furnish  them  ground  grain,  leguminous 
hay,  and  abundant  pastures  can  keep  them  from  two  to 
four  years,  then  fatten  and  sell  them  for  nearly  as  much 
as  they  paid.  During  the  time  of  ownership  these  ewes 
will  have  averaged  about  one  hundred  per  cent  of  lambs,  and 
sheared  from  five  to  eight  pounds  of  wool  each  year.  This 
book  does  not  deal  primarily  with  breeding  sheep,  but  the 
point  mentioned  is  worthy  of  every  Middle  States  farmer's 
attention.  From  a  feeder's  standpoint  ewes  are  not  to  be 
recommended,  for  their  breeding  value  gives  them  too  high 
a  relative  feeding  value.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some 
cases  when  a  bunch  of  ewes  can  be  purchased  at  a  real 
bargain,  and  if  the  intending  feeder  has  the  proper  kind  of 
feed  in  his  bins  and  mows,  he  can  make  money  on  them. 

WESTERN  RAMS  AND  CULL  SHEEP 

Few  Western  culls.  Not  many  sheep  of  this  class  reach 
the  market.  They  seldom,  if  ever,  go  out  as  feeders  and 
as  a  whole  are  of  very  little  consequence. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  DETERMINING  FACTORS  IN  THE  SELECTION 
OF  FEEDING  SHEEP 

No  best  class  of  feeders.  What  kind  or  class  of  sheep 
makes  the  best  feeders  is  a  question  quite  frequently  asked, 
but  impossible  to  answer.  We  must  remember  that  there  is 
no  more  a  best  feeder  sheep  than  there  is  a  best  horse  or 
hog.  However,  under  specified  and  definite  conditions  this 
question  may  have  at  least  a  partial  answer,  and  with  this 
in  mind  the  following  suggestions  concerning  the  character- 
istics of  the  different  feeder  subclasses  are  given,  with  the 
desire  that  they  may  prove  helpful  to  the  intending  pur- 
chaser in  his  selection  of  the  best  feeders  for  his  conditions. 
Natives  are  of  so  little  importance  in  the  feeder  classes  that 
they  will  not  be  considered  in  this  discussion. 

Duplication  of  climatic  conditions  in  selection  of  feeders. 
Other  things  being  equal,  the  feeder  who  lives  in  northern 
feeding  districts  —  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Illi- 
nois, Ohio,  and  the  New  England  States  —  should  feed 
the  Western  sheep  that  come  from  the  northern  sheep 
regions,  namely,  Idahos,  Montanas,  Dakotas,  and  perhaps 
the  Wyomings.  The  central  and  southern  feeders  have  the 
Wyomings  and  Mexicans  to  select  from.  The  Mexicans 
are  especially  well  adapted  to  Colorado,  Nebraska,  and 
Kansas  conditions,  while  the  Wyomings  fill  many  yards 
in  eastern  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  Iowa,  Missouri,  southern 
Illinois,  and  Ohio.  This  is  a  broad  classification  and  only 
applies  in  a  very  general  way. 

18 


FACTORS  IK  SELECTION  OF  FEEDING  SHEEP    19 

WHEN  LAMBS  EXCEL  AS  FEEDERS 

The  most  important  points  briefly  stated.  Lambs  make  more 
pounds  of  gain  per  pound  of  feed  than  yearlings  or  wethers. 

The  feeding  period  of  lambs  is  often  longer,  and  may 
be  made  much  longer,  than  that  of  yearlings  or  wethers. 
They  eat  less  roughness  per  pound  of  grain  than  any  of 
the  other  subclasses. 

Lambs  grow,  as  well  as  fatten,  while  in  the  feed  yard. 

It  requires  much  more  care,  attention,  and  a  broader  ex- 
perience to  feed  lambs  than  older  sheep,  for  they  are  often 
taken  direct  from  their  mothers  and  shipped  to  market, 
where  they  undergo  many  new  and  hard  experiences.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  such  tender  babies  need  the  hand  of 
experience  to  care  for  their  wants.  They  are  not  the  sheep 
for  the  novice. 

For  rough  cornfield  feeding  they  are  not  as  well  adapted 
as  yearlings  or  wethers,  although  there  are  men  of  experi- 
ence who  feed  them  successfully  in  this  way. 

For  pasturing  a  catch  crop  of  rape  or  cowpeas  out  of  a 
cornfield,  where  it  is  not  intended  that  the  sheep  shall  eat 
the  grain,  lambs  stand  first. 

They  require  the  best  grade  of  feed  served  in  its  most 
tempting  form.  The  principal  roughness  should  always  be 
a  legume ;  the  grain,  which  is  in  the  majority  of  cases  corn, 
some  say  should  be  ground,  while  others  state  that  shelled 
is  preferable,  and  many  successful  feeders  use  ear  corn. 
Unquestionably  there  is  less  danger  in  feeding  ear  corn 
than  unmixed  ground  corn. 

Except  in  the  drier  regions  of  the  West,  lambs  will  require 
some  kind  of  shelter  during  a  feeding  period  that  extends 
into  early  winter. 


20  SHEEP  FEEDING 

The  necessary  margin  on  which  to  feed  lambs  is  con- 
sidered to  be  from  one  dollar  to  two  dollars  per  hundred- 
weight. With  a  difference  of  a  dollar  and  a  half  between 
buying  and  selling  price,  and  a  fifty-cent  freight  rate,  there 
is  generally  a  good  profit  for  the  feeder. 

For  the  man  of  experience,  with  good  shelter  (which  means 
quarters  that  are  dry  and  clean  but  not  necessarily  warm), 
the  best  quality  of  feed  in  its  most  tempting  form,  and  an 
abundance  of  good  water,  lambs  will  beyond  a  doubt  be 
the  choice  of  feeders. 


THE  FEEDING  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  YEARLINGS 
AND  WETHERS 

Summary  of  the  most  important  points.  Yearlings  and 
wethers  will  finish  on  a  shorter  feed  than  lambs. 

They  will  consume  a  greater  per  cent  of  roughness  per 
pound  of  grain. 

Yearlings,  and  particularly  wethers,  will  handle  stover, 
straw,  nonleguminous  hay,  and  hay  of  poor  quality  best 
of  any  of  the  feeding  sheep.  Do  not  infer  from  this  state- 
ment that  the  above-mentioned  feeds  are  ideal  or  even  good 
sheep  feeds,  for  they  are  not ;  but  the  farmer  whose  main 
object  is  to  feed  up  this  class  of  roughness  will  find  that 
large,  thrifty  wethers  will  handle  it  much  more  profitably 
than  any  of  the  other  classes. 

Ear  corn  can  be  handled  very  satisfactorily  by  yearlings 
and  wethers. 

For  pasturing  down  corn,  yearlings  are  perhaps  the  best 
that  can  be  obtained. 

If  it  is  necessary  for  the  sheep  to  be  exposed  to  the  ele- 
ments at  all  times,  yearlings  or  wethers  should  be  selected. 


FACTORS  IN  SELECTION  OF  FEEDING  SHEEP  21 

It  is  generally  figured  that  a  margin  of  from  twenty-five 
cents  to  fifty  cents  more  per  hundredweight  is  needed  to  feed 
yearlings  than  lambs,  and  from  twenty-five  cents  to  seventy^ 
five  cents  more  per  hundredweight  for  wethers  than  lambs. 

For  the  beginner,  for  one  who  wishes  to  pasture  down 
corn,  for  one  who  has  poor  shelter  or  none,  and  for  the 
one  who  has  an  abundance  of  rough  feed,  let  the  yearlings 
and  wethers  be  recommended.  If  it  is  known  that  the  con- 
ditions are  not  suitable  for  lambs,  and  it  is  hard  to  decide 
between  yearlings  and  wethers,  let  the  decision  be  based  on 
the  market  supply  and  relative  market  prices  of  the  two. 
In  short,  lambs  require  the  best,  wethers  will  handle  the 
poorest,  and  yearlings  occupy  the  middle  ground. 

WHEN  EWES  ARE  A  GOOD  INVESTMENT 

Old  ewes  require  good  conditions.  Mature  ewes  with  sound 
mouths  fit  about  the  same  conditions  on  a  farm  or  in  the 
feed  lot  as  do  the  wethers.  They  generally  consume  a  little 
more  feed  per  pound  of  gain  than  do  the  wethers,  and  when 
fat  sell  for  less  ;  hence  a  greater  margin  is  required  between 
buying  and  selling  price.  Ewes  with  broken  mouths  require 
conditions  more  nearly  like  those  for  lambs.  Ground  grain 
and  leguminous  hay  should  be  furnished,  and  shelter  is 
generally  advisable.  In  the  majority  of  cases  Western  ewes 
demand  consideration  as  feeders  only  when  they  can  be 
purchased  at  a  real  bargain. 

SOME  RESULTS  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  FEEDING 

Some  experimental  facts.  It  is  interesting  to  note  here 
some  of  the  results  published  by  the  Ohio  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station  in  Bulletin  No.  179.  This  bulletin  sets 


22  SHEEP  FEEDING 

forth  the  findings  of  a  feeding  experiment  with  Western 
lambs  which  was  conducted  on  the  farm  of  a  practical  Ohio 
sheep  feeder  during  the  season  1905-1906.  One  hundred 
and  sixty  lambs  were  divided  into  four  lots  of  forty  head 
each  and  fed  in  the  barn  in  pens,  allowing  seven  square 
feet  per  animal.  Each  lot  received  the  same  hay  ration, 
which  consisted  of  one  and  one-half  pounds  of  hay  per 
head  per  day,  and  Lot  1  received  a  grain  ration  of  shelled 
corn,  Lot  2  corn  and  cottonseed  meal,  Lot  3  corn  and  lin- 
seed meal,  and  Lot  4  corn  and  Dr.  Hess's  Stock  Food. 

Gains  at  five  cents  per  pound.  The  gains  made  by  the 
different  lots  were  remarkably  similar,  but  as  the  results 
from  the  shelled-corn  lot  have  the  widest  application,  they 
alone  will  be  quoted.  The  experiment  lasted  103  days,  and 
the  lambs  made  a  daily  gain  of  .298  pound  per  head.  With 
corn  at  #0.48  per  bushel,  and  hay  f  5.50  and  $6.00  per  ton, 
a  pound  of  gain  cost  $0.049.  Each  lamb  ate  2.21  bushels 
of  corn  and  155  pounds  of  hay,  consuming  402.44  pounds 
of  corn  and  504.06  pounds  of  roughness  per  100  pounds  of 
gain.  They  shrank  4.1  pounds  per  hundredweight  in  ship- 
ping to  Cleveland  and  dressed  53  per  cent.  Lot  1  produced 
11,525  pounds  of  manure,  which  was  worth  $29.67,  or  $5.15 
per  ton,  when  figured  on  a  commercial  fertilizer  basis.  Of 
course,  manure  must  be  handled  in  the  best  possible  way  to 
possess  this  apparently  excessive  value.  It  was  figured  that 
the  total  cost  of  feed  and  bedding  for  Lot  1  was  $67.97; 
the  manure  value  was  $29.67,  leaving  a  difference  of  $38.30. 
Counting  grain,  roughage,  and  bedding,  it  took  2251.62 
pounds  to  produce  one  ton  of  manure. 

From  Ohio  Bulletin  No.  179.  Quoting  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting phases  of  the  bulletin,  we  read :  "  Table  XV,  which 
follows,  dealing  only  with  Lot  1  and  calculated  on  the  basis 


23 


24 


SHEEP  FEEDING 


of  the  figures  quoted  for  food  consumed  and  gains  produced 
by  this  lot,  is  of  very  much  more  actual  value  to  the  sheep 
feeder  than  is  the  financial  statement  previously  mentioned. 

"  TABLE  XV.    EFFECT  OF  VARYING  VALUES  OF  FEEDS  AND 
FEEDER  LAMBS  ON  COST  OF  FAT  LAMBS 

ASSUMED  VALUES  OF  FEEDS 


Hay  per  Ton 

$6.00 

$9.00 

$12.00 

$9.00 

$9.00 

$6.00 

$12.00 

Corn  per 
Bushel 

.45 

.45 

.45 

.30 

.60 

.30 

.60 

Assumed 
Home  Price 
per  Hundred- 
weight paid 

for  Feeder 
Lambs 


Price  at  which  Fat  Lambs  must  sell  per  Hundredweight  at  Home  to 
pay  for  Feeder  Lambs  and  Feed  used  on  Basis  of  Assumed  Price 


$3.00 
3.50 
4.00 

$3.546 
3.890 
4.234 

$3.783 
4.127 
4.470 

$4.020 
4.363 
4.707 

$3.446 
3.789 
4.133 

$4.121 
4.464 

4.808 

$3.209 
3.553 
3.896 

$4.357 
4.701 
5.044 

4.50 
5.00 

4.577 
4.921 

4.814 
5.157 

5.050 
5.394 

4.476 

4.820 

5.151 
5.495 

4.240 

4.583 

5.388 
5.731 

5.50 

5.264 

5.501 

5.737 

5.163 

5.838 

4.927 

6.075 

6.00 

5.608 

5.844 

6.081 

5.507 

6.182 

5.270 

6.418 

6.50 

5.951 

6.188 

6.424 

5.850 

6.525 

5.614 

6.762 

7.00 

6.295 

6.531 

6.768 

6.194 

6.869 

5.957 

7.105 

7.50 

6.638 

6.875 

7.111 

6.537 

7.212 

6.301 

7.449 

"  It  should  be  understood  at  the  outset  that  the  figures 
presented  in  the  table  above  are  not  applicable  to  all  condi- 
tions. They  are  derived  from  the  actual  results  obtained  in 
this  experiment  from  Lot  1,  fed  a  grain  ration  of  corn  alone, 
the  roughage  consisting  of  mixed  hay  made  up  of  clover, 
alfalfa,  and  blue  grass.  Although  the  figures  on  food  con- 
sumed and  gains  produced  apply,  strictly,  only  to  the  par- 
ticular instance  mentioned,  yet  they  serve  a  very  useful 


FACTOES  IN  SELECTION  OF  FEEDING  SHEEP  25 

purpose,  since  many  feeders  use  rations  which  approximate 
the  one  used  in  this  case. 

:"  The  table  shows  prices  at  which  the  lambs  in  Lot  1 
would  have  to  sell  at  home  to  pay  for  the  original  cost  of 
the  lambs  and  the  feed  consumed  during  the  experiment, 
with  feeder  lambs  at  prices  ranging  from  $3.00  to  $7.50 
per  hundredweight  at  home,  and  with  hay  and  corn  prices 
in  the  combinations  given  in  the  two  top  lines  of  the  table. 

"The  figures  underlined  are  those  that  show  instances 
where  the  selling  price  may  be  less  than  the  purchase  price, 
under  the  conditions  named. 

"  The  following  brief  computation  presents  the  method 
by  which  the  table  was  prepared  (feeder  lambs  at  $3.00  per 
hundredweight,  hay  $6.00  per  ton,  corn  $0.45  per  bushel)  : 

Cost  of  67.5  pounds  feeder  lambs  at  $3.00  per  hundredweight  $2.02 
Cost  of  food  (155  pounds  hay,  123.75  pounds  corn)  fed  to 

produce  30.75  pounds'  gain 1.46 

Cost  of  98.25  pounds  fat  lamb 3.48 

Selling  price  per  hundredweight  necessary  to  pay  for  feeder 

lamb  and  food  consumed 3.546 

Advance  per  hundredweight  required  to  prevent  loss      .     .  .546  " 


CHAPTER  III 

BUYING  THE  FEEDERS 

First  questions  for  the  buyer.  Perhaps  the  first  questions 
that  confront  the  buyer  of  feeding  sheep  are  when,  where, 
what,  and  how  to  buy;  and  in  an  effort  to  answer  these 
questions  the  following  suggestions  are  made : 

WHEN  THE  FEEDERS  SHOULD  BE  PURCHASED 

Most  feeders  reach  the  market  in  the  fall.  By  consulting 
the  diagram  on  page  28  we  see  that  the  greatest  numbers 
of  sheep  reach  the  markets  during  the  months  of  August, 
September,  October,  and  November.  Although  in  some 
years  the  runs  remain  high  during  December  and  January, 
it  is  largely  due  to  the  returning  of  fat  sheep  from  the  feed 
yards  and  not  to  a  supply  from  the  range.  Fall,  then,  seems 
the  logical  time  to  do  the  purchasing,  for  the  abundant 
supply  gives  a  wide  range  of  selection ;  at  this  season,  too, 
crops  are  ready  to  [be  fed  and  the  rush  of  farm  work  has 
somewhat  diminished.  There  are  some  exceptions  to  the 
rule,  but  the  exceptions  as  well  as  the  dates  for  purchase 
will  be  discussed  in  connection  with  the  different  systems 
of  feeding,  for  the  exact  date  of  purchase  is  determined 
by  the  system  of  feeding  to  be  followed. 

WHERE  THE  FEEDERS  MAY  BE  PURCHASED 

The  purchaser  of  feeder  sheep  may  go  to  the  ranges  in 
the  West  and  buy  direct  from  the  raisers,  or  purchase  on 
the  open  market,  or  buy  from  one  of  the  many  large  dealers 

26 


BUYING  THE  FEEDEKS  27 

that  operate  in  the  different  parts  of  the  country.   The  rela= 
tive  points  of  each  method  will  be  discussed. 

Buying  feeding  sheep  on  the  range.  The  main  points  in 
favor  of  buying  direct  from  the  ranges  are 

1.  The  purchaser  has  no  commission  to  pay. 

2.  He  can  get  his  feeders  when  he  wants  them. 

3.  Those  that  he  buys  are  apt  to  be  quite  uniform,  being 
of  the  same  breeding  and  having  had  similar  care. 

4.  The  tops  are  not  culled  out  by  the  packers,  as  they 
generally  are  if  shipped  to  the  market. 

5.  In  some  states  the  railroads  allow  those  who  buy  sheep 
in  the  West  a  freight  rate  direct  to  market,  with  a  feed-in- 
transit  clause  which  permits  them  to  unload  on  their  farms 
and  hold  the  sheep  long  enough  to  make  a  feed,  then  reload 
and  ship  to  market.    This  is  very  convenient  for  those  who 
are  so  situated  that  they  can  take  advantage  of  it. 

The  disadvantages  of  going  to  the  range  for  feeders  — 
and  these  in  the  writer's  opinion  overbalance  the  advan- 
tages, especially  for  the  one  who  only  buys  enough  for  his 
own  use  —  are 

1.  Only  the  large  feeder  can  afford  to  buy  on  the  range; 
for  it  is  seldom  that  a  raiser  will  split  his  salable  stuff,  and 
most  bands  number  from  one  thousand  up. 

2.  The  range   of  selection   is  greatly  limited,  it  being 
practically  impossible  for  a  buyer  to  look  over  Mexicans, 
Utahs,  and  Idahos,  for  instance,  when  he  has  to  inspect 
each  class  on  its  home  range. 

3.  When  on  the  range  the  buyer  is  at  the  seller's  mercy, 
for  he  has  to  pay  the  seller's  price  or  go  without  his  sheep ; 
the  seller  can  be  independent. 

4.  One  who  buys  on  the  range  must  be  a  good  judge  of 
sheep,  for  there  he  sees  them  in  their  very  best  condition. 


28 


SHEEP  FEEDING 


4 


BUYING  THE  FEEDERS 


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30  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Lambs  are  generally  plump  and  fat,  for  in  some  of  the 
states  they  are  still  suckling  the  ewes. 

5.  He  has  to  estimate  their  weight,  which  must  be  based 
on  an  average  of  the  little  late  fellows  as  well  as  the  large 
thrifty  ones. 

6.  He  must  be  able  to  judge  of  the  market  about  a  week 
in  the  future,  because  in  many  instances  it  takes  that  long 
to  get  Western  sheep  from  the  range  to  the  market. 

7.  He  must  stand  all  loss  in  shipment,  which  is  in  some 
cases,  especially  with  lambs,  rather  heavy. 

8.  He  runs  his  own  risk  on  getting  cars,  and  pays  all 
feed  and  transit  bills. 

9.  If  his  sheep  happen  to  get  caught  in  a  storm  the 
shrinkage  is  very  heavy. 

10.  It  would  seem  that  only  the  experienced  and  very 
extensive  buyer  could  profitably  go  to  the  range  for  his 
sheep,  and  then  only  because  he  finds  it  necessary  to  do 
so  in  order  to  fill  his  yards. 

Buying  on  the  market.  The  advantages  to  the  feeder  of 
buying  his  sheep  on  the  market  are 

1.  He  has  a  large  range  of  selection,  which  may  extend 
over  a  period  of  several  weeks ;  this  is  especially  true  if  he 
is  so  situated  that  the  exact  date  of  arrival  of  the  sheep 
makes  little  difference.  Many  successful  feeders  never  go 
to  the  market  to  buy.  They  describe  very  accurately  the 
class,  grade,  and  age  of  feeders  desired,  stating  maximum 
price  they  will  pay  and  the  dates  on  which  they  will  be 
prepared  to  receive  them.  If  one  is  assured  of  the  respon- 
sibility of  his  commission  firm,  this  method  is  to  be  recom- 
mended. Fortunately  there  are  organizations  at  some  of  our 
best  yards  that  look  after  the  interests  of  buyers  and  sellers 
and  protect  them  from  dishonest  and  fraudulent  dealers. 


31 


32  SHEEP  FEEDING 

2.  The  seller  of  sheep  has  them  on  the  market  at  a  heavy 
and  constant  cost,  and  hence  is  often  forced  to  sell  at  a  sac- 
rifice.   The  market  buyer  is  prepared  to  take  advantage  of 
such  a  condition. 

3.  In  many  cases  a  buyer  of  feeders  finds  it  an  advantage 
to  make  a  cut  in  a  certain  consignment.   The  band  may  be 
large,  they  may  be  very  uneven,  or  there  may  be  some  very 
undesirable  tails  (poor,  unfinished  sheep).    These  assort- 
ments or  cuts  are  very  frequently  allowed  on  the  market. 

4.  Western  sheep  purchased  on  the  market  are  dipped 
before  they  leave  for  feed  yards  or  farms.   This  lessens  very 
materially  the  liability  of  spreading  disease,  and  is  one  of 
the  greatest  points  in  favor  of  market  buying.    In  fact,  if 
not  fitted  with  a  dipping  tank  at  home,  it  is  very  dangerous 
to  buy  direct  from  the  range. 

5.  Buyers  of  sheep  on  the  market  get  the  full  advantage 
of  all  shrinkage,  which  is  in  some  cases  very  heavy. 

The  disadvantage  of  market  buying  applies  especially 
to  the  large  feeder  who  handles  from  one  thousand  to  fifty 
thousand  head,  and  often  finds  it  impossible  to  fill  his  yards 
profitably  when  buying  in  competition  with  the  farmer  who 
wants  just  a  carload  or  two  to  clean  up  his  fields  and 
rough  stuff. 

Buying  from  the  large  country  operator.  There  are  men 
in  different  parts  of  the  corn  belt  who  feed  large  numbers 
of  sheep  each  year,  and  when  purchasing  their  own  often 
buy  a  carload  or  two  for  their  neighbors. 

The  advantages  of  buying  sheep  from  these  men  are 

1.  The  sheep  are  generally  contracted  during  the  late  sum- 
mer, and  the  purchaser  knows  to  a  fair  degree  of  certainty 
the  amount  of  feed  he  will  have  on  hand,  and  can  figure 
quite  closely  what  he  can  afford  to  pay  for  the  feeders. 


BUYING  THE  FEEDERS  33 

2.  The  seller  can  tell  him  what  the  sheep  will  cost  when 
laid  down  on  his  farm  on  a  certain  date  in  the  fall. 

3.  The  purchaser  knows  a  month  or  so  ahead  just  what 
the  number,  class,  grade,  age,  approximate  weight,  and  exact 
cost  of  his  sheep  will  be  the  day  he  receives  them. 

The  disadvantages  of  buying  from  the  country  operator  are 

1.  Unless  the  men  who  do  the  buying  in  the  West  are 
experienced  and  honest  there  is  greater  danger  of  getting 
scab  with  this  method  than  with  market  purchases. 

2.  When  buying  for  future  delivery  one  runs  a  risk  of  a 
turn  in  the  market,  which  may  be  to  his  gain  or  loss.   Some 
of  the  heaviest  losers  on  sheep  during  the  disastrous  fall 
and  winter  of  1907  were  men  who  purchased  in  August 
sheep  to  be  delivered  from  September  to  November. 

WHAT  KIND  OF  FEEDING  SHEEP  TO  BUY 

Four  points  to  be  considered.  After  a  feeder  has  decided 
on  the  class  of  sheep  that  best  fits  his  conditions  and  ex- 
perience, he  is  confronted  with  the  task  of  selecting  the 
individuals  within  the  class.  This  selection  should  be  based 
largely  on  weight,  quality,  form,  and  condition. 

Weight  an  important  factor.  Weight  concerns  the  seller 
more  than  the  buyer,  hence  the  discussion  of  its  bearing 
and  importance  will  be  taken  up  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 
The  buyer  considers  weight  only  as  it  affects  his  final  prod- 
uct. He  may  subtract  from  seventy-five  or  eighty  the  gain 
he  wishes  to  make  on  his  lambs,  and  this  will  give  the 
proper  weight  at  which  to  buy  his  feeders.  The  nearer 
to  ideal  lamb  weights  yearlings  and  wethers  are  marketed, 
the  better.  There  is  a  strong  tendency  toward  marketing 
lighter  and  lighter  lambs.  From  1908  to  1911,  lamb  weights 
dropped  five  to  eight  pounds. 


34  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Quality  not  to  be  overlooked.  Quality  holds  an  important 
place  in  the  eyes  of  the  experienced  buyer.  Indications  of 
desirable  quality  are  seen  in  a  fine  clean-cut  head,  rather 
small  neatly  set  ears,  fine  hair  about  the  face  and  on  the 
legs,  small  but  strong  bones,  and,  most  important  of  all,  a 
lack  of  wrinkles  and  folds  in  the  pelt.  Many  feeders  use 
this  last  characteristic  alone  in  determining  quality.  Sheep 
having  a  thick  skin  that  hangs  in  folds  about  the  neck  and 
throat  latch,  and  an  abundant  coating  of  oily,  frequently 
dirty  wool,  are  said  to  be  heavy-pelted,  and  are  invariably 
discriminated  against  by  killers,  and  hence  by  feeders.  In 
the  late  winter  or  early  spring,  however,  feeders  who  are 
looking  for  sheep  that  can  be  clipped  and  short-fed  prefer 
these  heavy-pelted  fellows,  because  they  are  good  shearers, 
and  the  wool  can  be  bought  for  from  five  to  seven  cents  a 
pound  on  the  sheep  and  sold  for  from  twenty  to  thirty  cents 
off  ;  hence  the  discrimination  made  by  the  packers  is  gener- 
ally well  balanced.  Packing-house  buyers  make  their  pur- 
chases on  mutton  qualities  alone,  and  they  know  that  a 
heavy-pelted  sheep  is  a  poorer  dresser  than  one  that  is 
light-  or  thin-pelted ;  hence  a  lower  bid  is  placed  upon  him. 

Form  not  of  greatest  importance.  Form  is  discriminated 
against  only  when  it  reaches  undesirable  extremes.  Perhaps 
the  two  most  common  instances  of  undesirable  form  in  feed- 
ing sheep  are  seen  in  undue  legginess  and  a  heavy  paunch. 
Either  of  these  might  make  undesirable  a  feeder  that  was 
otherwise  satisfactory.  A  desirable  form  is  one  that  is 
well  balanced,  fairly  compact,  and  low  down,  broad  rather 
than  long,  and  deep  and  well  rounded,  showing  especially 
well-developed  hind  quarters.  The  Mexican  sheep  have 
what  many  would  call  undesirable  form,  but  they  possess 
extremely  good  quality,  very  good  balance,  and  are  high 


35 


36  SHEEP  FEEDIKC 

dressers  —  hence  market  toppers.    The  feeder  that  is  a  good 
judge  of  quality  seldom  need  concern  himself  with  form. 

Condition  not  high  in  best  feeders.  "  Condition  "  in  sheep 
refers  to  the  amount  of  flesh  they  carry.  Those  who  buy 
on  the  market  seldom  get  sheep  carrying  too  much  flesh,  for 
the  packers  select  the  tops,  or  those  in  the  best  condition, 
and  the  thinner  ones  are  left  for  the  feeders.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  bunch  of  sheep  that  are  very  low  in  condition  may 
be  offered  the  buyer,  and  he  may  wonder  if  he  can  handle 
them.  Such  sheep  demand  a  long  feed,  good  grain,  legumi- 
nous roughness,  and  very  tender  care  at  first,  but  in.  .the  end 
they  may  prove  profitable,  provided  their  lack  of  flesh  igj 
due  to  lack  of  feed  and  not  to  disease.  A  good  feeder  in  a 
desirable  condition  shows  thrift  and  some  flesh,  but  very 
little  fat;  vigor  and  health,  but  not  undue  emaciation. 
Condition  is  of  greatest  importance  to  the  feeder  when  the 
sheep  are  ready  for  market,  and  the  subject  is  fully  discussed 
in  a  later  chapter. 

HOW  TO   PURCHASE  FEEDING   SHEEP 

Advisability  of  buying  from  a  reliable  commission  firm. 
If  it  were  possible  to  sum  up  a  few  of  the  foregoing  state- 
ments for  the  benefit  of  one  who  wishes  to  begin  the  feed- 
ing of  sheep,  the  following  might  be  said.  After  deciding 
on  the  kind  of  sheep  that  it  is  desirable  to  feed,  write  to 
a  thoroughly  reliable  commission  firm,  preferably  at  Omaha, 
St.  Joseph,  or  Kansas  City,  —  unless  you  live  very  near 
Chicago  or  St.  Louis,  or  east  of  these  markets,  —  and  tell 
them  as  accurately  as  possible  the  kind  of  sheep  desired, 
stating  what  price  you  wish  to  pay  and  when  you  wish  to 
receive  them.  Give  as  much  latitude  as  possible  regarding 
this  latter  point.  If  you  are  ignorant  of  what  constitutes  a 


BUYING  THE  FEEDEKS  37 

good  feeder,  leave  the  selection  of  your  stock  to  your  buyer, 
and  do  not  disregard  his  judgment  after  you  have  paid  him 
for  it.  You  can  use  your  own  judgment,  eyes,  and  ears  to 
good  advantage  in  detecting  signs  of  disease,  particularly 
scab  in  Western  sheep,  insisting  on  a  cut  if  there  are  some 
culls  you  do  not  want,  and  in  seeing  that  your  sheep  are 
thoroughly  and  carefully  dipped  ;  in  fact,  too  much  emphasis 
cannot  be  laid  on  the  importance  of  dipping.  The  cars  that 
sheep  are  shipped  in,  as  well  as  the  sheep  pens  about  the 
stockyards,  are  not  infrequently  badly  infected  with  scab. 
Some  large  feeders  deem  it  necessary  to  dip  their  sheep 
again  after  they  get  them  home,  on  account  of  the  exposure 
to  infection  en  route  from  the  yards  to  the  farm.  There 
may  be  some  question  regarding  the  advisability  of  the 
second  dipping,  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  about 
the  necessity  of  the  first.  It  rids  the  sheep  of  ticks  and 
other  external  parasites  that  they  invariably  have,  even 
though  they  are  perfectly  free  from  all  signs  of  scab. 

Studying  the  conditions  at  the  stockyards.  Another  point 
that  is  of  no  little  importance,  and  one  that  is  often  over- 
looked, may  be  mentioned  here.  Not  infrequently  the  writer 
has  seen  instances  where,  out  of  a  fine  healthy  bunch  of 
sheep,  from  one  to  three  per  cent  would  die  just  about  the 
time  the  feeder  got  them  home.  Everything  indicated  that 
the  loss  was  due  to  brutal  treatment  in  the  yard,  cars,  and 
dipping  pens.  Let  those  who  handle  your  sheep  know  that 
they  belong  to  you  and  that  you  are  on  hand  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  them.  Often  your  presence  will  be  all  that  is 
necessary  to  keep  ignorant  and  inhuman  drivers  and  dippers 
from  their  brutal  practices.  Another  way  in  which  you  can 
improve  your  time  while  around  the  yards  is  to  talk  to 
farmers  and  feeders  that  are  there,  and  watch  their  selection 


38  SHEEP  FEEDING 

when  they  purchase.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  ask  questions; 
note  the  methods  followed  by  the  men  who  have  been  in  the 
business  longest.  The  government  sheep  inspector  is  a  man 
who  has  no  financial  interest  in  the  yards,  and  his  word 
can  generally  be  relied  upon  as  unbiased  and  sound. 

The  beginner  should  start  slow.  A  double-deck  car  of 
sheep,  roughly  from  three  hundred  to  three  hundred  and 
fifty,  is  generally  enough  for  the  beginner.  Do  not  try  to 
fill  the  car  to  its  limit  when  shipping  out,  for  if  you  do, 
and  your  losses  are  not  heavy  (and  ordinarily  they  should 
not  be  over  three  to  four  per  cent),  you  will  have  just  a 
few  over  a  carload  when  you  ship  the  fat  ones  back. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PROFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP 

Limitation  of  our  discussion  to  the  most  profitable  systems. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  give  details  of  all  the  different 
methods  of  feeding  sheep  that  are  practiced  in  the  United 
States.  Those  systems,  however,  that  are  yielding  the  great- 
est net  profit,  and  are  developed  to  the  extent  that  it  is 
practical  for  others  to  try  them,  will  be  described  in  such 
a  way  that  the  description  will  form  directions.  For  the 
farmer,  this  method  or  plan  of  discussion  is  essential  if  he 
desires  to  take  up  the  work.  For  the  student,  it  reduces  the 
ideas  expressed  to  a  definite  concrete  system,  easily  grasped 
and  retained.  A  plan  or  discussion  that  carries  the  idea 
of  a  system  is  more  logical  and  easier  to  remember  than 
a  number  of  isolated  facts. 

SYSTEM  I.  A  GREEN-FEED  RATION,  GROWN  AS  A  CATCH 
CROP  IN  CORN  AND  PASTURED  DOWN 

Growing  cowpeas  and  rape  in  the  corn.  Starting  on  the 
supposition  that  the  days  of  late  summer  and  early  fall  find 
the  corn  fields  filled  with  a  good  growth  of  cowpeas  and 
rape,  let  us  consider  the  purchase  of  feeder  sheep  that  will 
handle  it  most  profitably.  This  is  a  lamb  proposition,  hence, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  not  to  be  undertaken  by  the 
beginner.  The  type  of  lamb  best  adapted  to  this  system 
is  one  weighing  from  about  fifty  to  fifty-five  pounds  and 
not  so  very  thin,  for  the  feeding  period  only  lasts  for  from 

39 


40  SHEEP  FEEDING 

sixty  to  ninety  days  and  not  more  than  from  twelve  to 
twenty  pounds'  gain  can  be  made.  A  Wyoming  or  an  Idaho 
would  be  a  good  choice,  for  they  reach  the  markets  rather 
early  and  are  of  the  proper  weight.  Purchase  them  so  that 
they  will  reach  the  farm  as  soon  as  the  catch  crops  have 
made  a  good  growth,  particularly  the  cowpeas,  which,  if 
possible,  should  have  set  some  pods.  This  time  will  vary 
from  the  last  half  of  August  to  the  latter  part  of  September. 
It  is  generally  figured  that  a  good  growth  of  cowpeas  and 
rape  will  fatten  from  seven  to  ten  lambs  per  acre,  the  num- 
ber depending  primarily  on  the  abundance  of  the  growth, 
its  maturity,  and  the  number  of  pounds  of  gain  put  on  the 
lambs.  Let  us  figure  on  a  forty-acre  cornfield  fattening  a 
double  deck,  about  three  hundred  head.  Half  the  field  has 
cowpeas  growing  in  it  and  the  other  half,  rape ;  a  tempo- 
rary fence  divides  the  two.  The  cowpeas  will  be  ruined 
after  the  first  hard  frost,  so  they  are  pastured  first.  This 
point  must  be  kept  in  mind  when  buying  the  lambs,  for 
they  should  always  be  purchased  early  enough  to  consume 
the  cowpeas  before  a  freeze. 

Starting  the  lambs  slowly  on  feed.  As  soon  as  the  lambs 
are  unloaded  at  the  home  station  they  will  appear  half 
starved  and  eagerly  eat  every  blade  of  green  growth  they 
can  find.  Let  this  serve  as  a  warning  and  do  not  turn  them 
into  the  fields  too  soon,  for  such  a  move  is  sure  to  result 
in  a  severe  loss.  When  the  sheep  reach  home  put  them  on 
a  very  short  pasture  and  leave  them  there  about  twenty- 
four  hours,  being  sure  that  an  abundant  supply  of  pure 
clean  water  and  some  salt  are  available.  The  second  day 
they  may  be  turned  into  a  better  pasture,  or  into  the  field  of 
corn  and  peas,  being  careful  that  they  do  not  scatter  through 
the  corn  and  get  in  such  shape  that  it  will  be  impossible  to 


JS 

-..  «l 


A  FIELD  OF  CORN  AND  COWPEAS 

In  this  field  an  acre  produced  sixty  bushels  of  corn  and,  in  addition,  enough 

cowpeas  to  fatten  ten  lambs 

41 


42  SHEEP  FEEDING 

drive  them  out  after  they  have  eaten  for  two  or  three  hours. 
The  following  day  increase  their  time  in  the  corn  about  an 
hour,  and  so  on  during  succeeding  days  until  the  fifth  or 
seventh,  when  they  can  be  turned  in  and  left.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  important  points  in  this  method  of  feeding,  and  care- 
lessness or  rush  at  this  time  will  result  in  loss  from  bloat. 
The  observant  shepherd  will  notice,  if  possible,  whether 
there  are  any  backward  lambs  that  are  not  taking  hold  of 
the  peas  very  well  at  first ;  for  if  there  are,  the  chances  are 
good  that  they  will  bloat  after  they  once  get  a  taste  of 
them  and  have  a  chance  to  eat  all  they  want.  Some  sheep 
will  graze  the  undergrowth  clean  as  they  go;  others  seem 
to  prefer  to  run  over  the  whole  field  and  pick  out  the  choice 
bits  first  and  then  clean  up  the  leavings.  If  they  can  be 
induced  to  follow  the  first  method,  it  is  to  be  preferred. 
Some  make  them  graze  in  this  way  by  using  a  series  of 
hurdles  or  temporary  fencing  that  they  move  forward  every 
few  days.  Sheep  will  continue  to  pick  and  work  over  the 
growth  which  they  grazed  first  if  allowed  to  do  so  until  it 
is  well  cleaned  up,  but  they  should  not  be  forced  to  it  be- 
fore being  allowed  a  fresh  patch,  for  under  these  conditions 
they  will  not  fatten.  If  possible,  always  have  a  pasture 
that  is  accessible  to  the  cornfield,  so  that  the  sheep  may 
go  back  and  forth  at  will.  During  very  muddy  weather 
there  is  apt  to  be  some  waste  of  feed,  but  it  is  not  advisable 
to  shut  the  lambs  out  of  the  field,  for  it  is  seldom  that  there 
is  other  green  feed  available,  and  to  take  them  from  it 
entirely  would  be  apt  to  result  in  a  shrinkage,  and  when 
turned  back  many  would  bloat. 

Pasturing  the  cowpeas  first,  then  the  rape.  It  is  planned 
to  have  the  cowpeas  cleaned  up  about  the  time  of  the  first 
frost,  generally  from  thirty  to  forty-five  days  after  turning 


PROFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP     43 

the  sheep  into  them,  but  this  varies  greatly,  depending  on 
how  good  a  growth  there  was  to  start  with  and  the  num- 
ber of  sheep  per  acre  that  grazed  it.  From  the  cowpeas  the 
sheep  are  turned  into  the  rape,  and  to  make  sure  that  they 
will  begin  eating  it  without  a  setback  it  is  advisable  to  give 
them  a  taste  of  it  a  few  hours  each  day  before  all  the  cow- 
peas  are  gone,  or  perhaps  better  still  have  a  sprinkling  of 
it  in  the  cowpea  fielti.  If  the  rape  has  made  a  satisfactory 
growth,  it  will  furnish  abundant  feed  for  another  thirty  to 
forty-five  days,  and  by  that  time  the  lambs  should  be  fat. 
There  is  another  chance  for  loss  from  bloat  when  changing 
from  the  peas  to  the  rape,  so  the  lambs  should  be  watched 
carefully. 

Lambs  not  apt  to  eat  the  corn.  A  question  that  always 
comes  up  in  connection  with  this  system  of  feeding  is,  Do 
the  lambs  eat  the  corn  or  break  down  the  stalks  ?  If  the 
stalks  are  down  badly  when  the  lambs  are  turned  in,  or  if 
the  undergrowth  gets  scarce,  there  is  a  liability  of  the  lambs' 
eating  the  corn,  but  under  ordinary  conditions  they  do  not 
bother  it.  Here  it  might  be  well  to  quote  a  northern  Mis- 
souri farmer  who  has  fed  sheep  by  this  method  since  1902. 
This  is  one  of  the  best  feeds  he  ever  made.  "  In  1904  I 
purchased  three  hundred  and  thirteen  head  of  lambs  ;  there 
were  some  yearlings  in  the  bunch,  weighing  seventy-nine 
pounds  in  Kansas  City.  They  ate  the  undergrowth,  which 
was  very  good  indeed,  in  thirty-five  acres  of  corn,  and  some 
of  the  ears,  but  not  more  than  twenty-five  bushels.  In  sixty 
days  they  were  back  in  Kansas  City  weighing  one  hundred 
pounds."  This  example  should  not  be  taken  as  an  average, 
but  rather  as  showing  the  possibilities  of  the  method.  This 
man  generally  uses  lambs  alone,  and  makes  a  longer  feed, 
but  seldom  receives  such  good  gains. 


44  SHEEP  FEEDING 

A  summary  of  System  I.  As  the  writer  considers  this 
method  of  feeding  sheep  the  most  profitable  that  he  has 
ever  studied,  and  as  there  will  undoubtedly  be  a  number 
of  farmers  who  will  wish  to  try  it,  there  may  be  added  a 
few  additional  points  of  interest  and  precaution. 

1.  Do  not  overstock  the  undergrowth,  for  this  is  apt  to 
cause  the  lambs  to  eat  the  corn ;  and  besides,  fattening  sheep 
must  have  an  abundance  of  feed  in  a  palatable  form.    If 
given  the  opportunity  they  will  eat  the  catch  crops  clean, 
but  they  cannot  be  profitably  forced  to  do  it. 

2.  If  the  undergrowth  gives  out  and  the  lambs  are  not 
fat,  they  cannot  generally  be  profitably  finished  on  corn, 
for  a  change  from  green  forage  to  grain  results  in  a  set- 
back that  cannot  be  regained  without  an  abnormally  long 
and  unprofitable  feed.    The  following  instance  illustrates 
the  point.    The  weights  given  are  those  taken  in  Denver 
when  buying,  and  in  St.  Louis  or  Chicago  when  selling. 
The  sheep  were  turned  into  a  very  excellent  growth  of 
cowpeas  and  rape,  and  gained  as  follows: 

Oct.  1-9  :  received  5766  yearlings,  weight  87^  lb. 
Nov.  8 :  30  days'  feed,  750  head  sold,  weight  97J  lb.,  gain  10  lb. 
Nov.  15  :  40  days'  feed,  1000  head  sold,  weight  981  lb.,  gain  11  lb.1 
Nov.  20 :  45  days'  feed,  750  head  sold,  weight  100  lb.,  gain  121  lb. 
Dec.  10  :  60  days'  feed,  800  head  sold,  weight  971  lb.,  gain  10  lb. 
Dec.  20  :  75  days'  feed,  2000  head  sold,  weight  96  lb.,  gain  81  lb. 

In  this  case  the  undergrowth  gave  out  about  the  middle 
of  November,  and  the  feed  from  then  on  was  mostly  corn 
that  the  sheep  gathered  from  the  fields.  Of  course  each 
time  a  shipment  was  made  the  tops  were  taken  out,  but  in 

1  On  November  15  there  were  a  thousand  head  more  that  were  as  fat 
as  those  sold. 


45 


46  SHEEP  FEEDING 

so  large  a  band  it  is  hardly  probable  that  half  were  culls, 
as  the  weights  might  indicate;  in  fact  they  were  not. 

3.  When  buying,  ship  from  the  market  in  double  decks, 
and  if  the  rates  are  as  satisfactory  ship  back  in  singles. 
This  gives  opportunity  to  market  half  the  sheep  as  soon 
as  fat,  and  there  is  quite  a  little  difference  in  the  rapidity 
with  which  those  that  remain  fatten.  The  first  ones  are  fre- 
quently ready  from  thirty  to  forty-five  days  before  the  last, 
and  as  the  number  is  reduced  at  home  those  that  remain  do 
very  much  better.    In  reference  to  marketing  fat  sheep  one 
large  feeder  said :  "  It  is  impossible  for  a  feeder  to  buy,  for 
instance,  a  thousand  head  of  sheep,  put  them  on  feed  at  the 
same  time,  and  then  sell  the  thousand  head  in  one  shipment 
and  make  money  on  them.    The  reason  for  this  is  because 
some  sheep  fatten  twice   and  three  times   as   quickly  as 
others,  and  when  some  of  them  get  fat  they  should  be 
sold  regardless  of  the  others.    Sheep  cannot  be  profitably 
held  after  they  are  fat." 

4.  The  sheep  should  receive  all  the  salt  they  want,  but 
increases  must  be  given  gradually,  for  in  some  cases  it 
acts  as  a  laxative. 

5.  An   abundance    of    pure  water  should   be    supplied 
in  such  a  way  that  the  sheep  can  reach  it  without  getting 
into  the  mud,  and  if  furnished  in  a  trough  it  should  be  so 
arranged  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  them  to  get  into  it. 

6.  Dogs   are  frequently  very  bothersome,   the  damage 
done  in  frightening  and  making  the  sheep  restless  often 
being  greater  than  in  the  number  killed.     By  having  a 
number  of  good  big  bells  on  some  of  the  sheep,  dogs  are 
sometimes  kept  away,  as  they  seem  to  prefer  to  commit 
their  depredations  on  the  quiet,  and  an  unusual  clatter  of 
bells  will  attract  the  attention  of  those  about  the  farm. 


47 


48  SHEEP  FEEDING 

7.  It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  yard  the  sheep  at  night 
on  account  of  dogs.    They  should  not -be  yarded  unless 
it  is  absolutely  necessary,  but  when  kept  up  at  night  they 
should  be  turned  out  as  early  as  possible  in  the  morning, 
for  at  that  time  they  do  their  best  grazing. 

8.  Sheep  fattened  entirely  on  a  green  feed  sell  equally 
well  on  the  market  with  grain-fed  sheep,  if  equally  fat  when 
sold.    Shrinkage  is  a  little  greater  with  the  sheep  that  are 
fed  green  feeds. 

SYSTEM  II.  PASTURING  DOWN  A  FORAGE  CROP 

GROWN   BY  ITSELF 

A  system  not  widely  practiced  in  the  Middle  West.  In 
Colorado  the  pea-fed  sheep  are  fattened  on  a  crop  grown 
by  itself,  the  crop  used  being  Canada  field  peas.  Cowpeas, 
field  peas,  soy  beans,  and  rape  are  the  crops  most  commonly 
grown  for  this  system.  Lambs  are  generally  used,  and  the 
feeding  period  is  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  and  twenty  days. 
The  same  precautions  as  were  mentioned  in  System  I  should 
be  observed  in  getting  them  onto  feed.  In  fact,  these  pre- 
cautions should  always  be  taken,  no  matter  what  the  feeding 
system  may  be.  Hurdles  or  temporary  fencing  which  allows 
the  sheep  to  graze  just  a  small  portion  each  day  are  neces- 
sary with  this  method.  The  rate  of  pasturing  and  gains 
made  may  be  based  on  those  described  in  System  I,  but 
ordinarily  more  sheep  per  acre  can  be  fattened  and  the 
gains  are  a  little  more  satisfactory.  Some  of  the  reasons 
why  Middle  West  farmers  do  not  follow  this  method  more 
extensively  are  because  the  weather  conditions  are  apt  to 
be  wet  and  muddy  during  the  feeding  period,  and  the  crop, 
cowpeas,  that  is  best  adapted  to  the  system  can  be  more 
profitably  grown  in  the  corn. 


PROFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOE  FEEDIXG  SHEEP     49 

SYSTEM  III.   PASTURING  DOWN  CORN,  USING  A  CATCH 
CROP,  PASTURE,  OR  HAY  FOR  ROUGHNESS 

Yearlings  more  satisfactory  than  lambs  in  corn  grazing. 

There  are  farmers  who  purchase  their  sheep  in  the  fall,  turn 
them  into  the  cornfields,  and  in  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  days  ship  direct  from  the  field  to  the 
market  with  a  gain  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  pounds,  —  market 
weights  both  in  and  out.  This  system  has  many  modifica- 
tions that  some  say  are  essential  to  success,  and  the  follow- 
ing account  embodies  the  most  important.  In  describing 
this  method  it  is  presupposed  that  the  sheep  are  purchased 
for  the  purpose  of  consuming  a  field  of  corn,  and  it  is  de- 
sired to  have  them  gather  it.  Either  yearlings  or  wethers 
may  be  bought,  but  preferably  yearlings  weighing  from 
about  seventy-five  to  eighty  pounds,  or  less  if  possible.  It 
may  be  necessary  to  purchase  Mexicans  in  order  to  get  light 
weights,  and  this  plan  may  be  very  satisfactory,  especially 
after  a  year  or  two  of  experience  with  some  other  class. 
Make  such  arrangements  that  it  will  be  convenient  to  have 
them  arrive  at  any  time  from  the  latter  part  of  September 
to  the  middle  of  November,  the  exact  time  depending  on 
market  prices,  the  available  supply  of  sheep,  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  cornfields.  The  longer  the  buying  period  may 
be  extended,  the  greater  the  chance  for  being  well  pleased 
with  the  purchase,  both  in  price  and  quality.  If  more  than 
one  carload  is  to  be  fed,  the  purchases  may  be  made  at  dif- 
ferent times  whenever  a  bargain  may  be  had,  as  it  is  not 
necessary  to  get  them  all  at  once.  When  they  reach  the 
farm  give  them  the  same  course  on  short  pasture  as  has 
been  described.  As  soon  as  they  have  been  in  the  cornfield 
for  a  few  days  an  effort  should  be  made  to  start  them  on 


50  SHEEP  FEEDING 

the  grain.  Break  some  of  the  stalks  down,  shell  some  of 
the  kernels  off  an  ear,  and  sprinkle  a  little  salt  on  it.  In 
other  places  shell  the  kernels  from  low-hanging  ears  and 
let  them  fall  just  beneath.  It  will  not  be  long  before  the 
sheep  are  eating  corn  very  nicely ;  in  fact,  after  they  once 
get  a  taste  of  it  the  danger  begins,  for  they  are  then  apt  to 
overeat  and  founder.  Use  a  watchful  eye  at  this  time,  for 
some  will  be  eating  corn  all  right  while  others  have  not 
started,  and  when  it  is  thought  that  the  whole  flock  is 
safely  on  full  feed  a  foundered  sheep  will  be  discovered. 
If  after  they  get  a  good  taste  of  corn  some  seem  to  be  eat- 
ing too  much,  —  one  of  the  first  indications  is  seen  in  ker- 
nels that  have  been  coughed  up,  —  take  them  out  for  a 
little  while,  perhaps  a  quarter  or  half  a  day ;  but  do  not 
keep  them  away  so  long  that  when  they  are  returned  they 
will  be  very  hungry,  for  they  will  then  gorge  themselves 
again.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  have  one  field  in  which 
part  of  the  corn  has  been  shucked  out,  and  when  the 
sheep  are  turned  back  let  them  work  through  this  scanty 
portion  and  get  partly  filled  before  they  reach  the  best 
places.  One  large  cornfield  that  was  being  very  success- 
fully grazed  was  arranged  in  this  way :  The  portion  nearest 
the  barn,  where  the  sheep  were  kept  at  night  on  account  of 
wolves  and  dogs,  had  the  best  ears  shucked  out.  Farther 
on  the  whole  crop  was  left,  and  next  to  this  there  was  a 
pasture  with  water  in  it.  When  the  sheep  left  the  barn  lot 
in  the  morning  they  started  in  the  field  where  they  had  to 
hunt  and  rustle  for  the  corn.  About  noon  they  reached  the 
good  part,  filled  up,  and  then  went  on  to  the  pasture  where 
they  got  their  water,  drank,  and  lay  down  until  about  two 
o'clock.  At  that  time  they  grazed  in  the  pasture  for  an 
hour  or  so  and  then  started  back  in  the  good  part  of  the 


51 


52  SHEEP  FEEDING 

cornfield,  but  did  not  gorge  themselves  because  they  were 
pretty  well  filled  from  the  morning  feed  and  the  pasture. 
They  finished  about  dark  in  the  thin  picking  and  went  to 
the  lots  for  the  night  not  uncomfortably  stuffed  with  corn. 
Of  course  not  every  farm  is  so  arranged  that  such  a  plan  can 
be  followed,  but  it  gives  a  suggestion  worth  considering. 

Not  forcing  the  sheep  to  clean  one  field  before  a  fresh  one 
is  given  them.  If  practicable,  divide  the  fields  so  that  every 
ten  to  twenty  days  a  new  portion  or  a  new  field  may  be 
turned  into.  It  is  quite  important  that  a  fresh  plot  be 
reserved  for  the  finishing  at  least.  Leave  the  part  that  was 
pastured  first  accessible  at  all  times,  for  the  sheep  will  keep 
working  back  over  it  until  it  is  well  cleaned  up ;  but  do 
not  force  them  to  clean  up  one  plot  before  they  are  given 
another.  A  common  and  serious  mistake  made  by  many  is 
to  think  that  one  field  must  be  completely  cleaned  out 
before  another  one  is  turned  into.  It  is  well  to  keep  in 
mind  that  the  sheep  are  being  fattened  and  cannot  be 
handled  like  stockers.  Fattening  sheep  must  have  an 
abundance  of  the  best. 

An  abundance  of  good  roughness  important  for  cornfield 
feeding.  Roughness  for  cornfield-fed  sheep  is  not  furnished 
in  sufficient  quantities  by  the  blades  of  corn  and  weeds,  no 
matter  how  thick  the  weeds  may  be.  Many  farmers  think 
that  the  sheep  can  pick  enough  waste  stuff  in  the  fields  to 
give  the  rations  a  proper  balance,  but  this  is  not  so,  and 
some  other  provision  must  be  made.  The  different  kinds 
of  roughness  for  cornfield  feeding,  given  in  the  order  of 
their  merits,  may  be  named  and  described  as  follows : 

Rape  an  excellent  roughness  for  sheep.  Rape  can  be 
obtained  cheaper  and  it  combines  with  corn  more  satis- 
factorily than  any  other  roughness.  Three  to  four  pounds 


PBOFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP     53 

of  seed  sown  ahead  of  the  last  cultivation  of  the  corn  will 
generally  make  a  very  satisfactory  growth  by  the  time  the 
corn  is  ready  for  the  sheep  in  the  fall.  They  will  prefer  to 
eat  out  the  rape  before  they  start  on  the  corn,  but  if  started 
on  the  rape  slowly  and  taught  to  eat  corn  at  the  same  time, 
they  will  combine  the  two  feeds  for  themselves  in  a  very 
satisfactory  way.  Rape  or  grass  pasture  is  about  the  only 
succulent  roughness  that  is  practical  to  furnish,  and  the 
former  ranks  ahead  of  the  latter.  Ordinarily  the  rape  does 
not  last  as  long  as  the  corn,  and  consequently  some  other 
roughness  must  be  fed  later. 

An  Iowa  farmer,  speaking  of  rape  as  a  roughness  for 
cornfield  feeding,  says:  "About  the  middle  of  September, 
1904,  I  turned  fifteen  hundred  sheep,  nine  hundred  year- 
lings, three  hundred  wethers,  and  three  hundred  ewes  into 
a  cornfield  that  had  a  very  fine  stand  of  rape  in  it.  In  one 
hundred  days  these  sheep  were  fat  and  ready  for  market, 
and  I  found  that  they  had  consumed  only  one  bushel  of 
corn  per  head.  This  is  the  most  corn  that  I  ever  saved 
with  a  rape  crop.  Without  the  rape  a  hundred  days'  feed 
for  yearlings  and  wethers  generally  requires  about  three 
bushels  of  corn  per  head  and  from  one  hundred  to  two 
hundred  pounds  of  hay." 

Fall  blue  grass  and  corn  an  excellent  combination.  A 
blue-grass  pasture  or  a  clover  and  timothy  meadow  is 
the  most  common  supplement  used  to  furnish  the  rough- 
ness for  cornfield  feeding.  If  the  grass  has  not  been  eaten 
down  during  the  spring  and  summer,  and  if  the  fall  growth 
is  very  good,  then  such  a  pasture  will  furnish  sufficient  and 
very  satisfactory  roughness.  In  fact,  no  piece  of  grass  on 
the  farm  will  pay  better  than  one  that  is  pastured  by  sheep 
in  conjunction  with  a  cornfield.  Regarding  the  amount  of 


54  SHEEP  FEEDING 

pasture  that  is  required  when  handled  in  this  way  it  is  quite 
difficult  to  say,  but  in  a  rough  way  it  may  be  figured  that 
from  six  to  ten  hundred-pound  sheep  will  require  about  the 
same  amount  of  pasture  as  a  mature  beef  animal. 

Alfalfa  to  be  used  with  care.  In  sections  where  alfalfa 
thrives,  excellent  results  have  been  obtained  by  letting  the 
sheep  graze  the  alfalfa  fields  in  conjunction  with  cornfields. 
In  starting  on  the  alfalfa,  precautions  must  be  taken,  by 
beginning  slowly,  to  guard  against  bloat.  The  alfalfa  can- 
not be  pastured  too  close  without  endangering  the  stand. 

Good  gains  from  leguminous  hay  and  corn.  Alfalfa  or 
clover  hay  combine  very  well  indeed  with  cornfield  feeding. 
In  sections  where  weather  conditions  will  permit,  the  most 
satisfactory  way  of  feeding  it  is  to  haul  it  to  the  cornfields 
and  stack  it,  one  load  in  a  place.  Around  each  stack  set 
four  sixteen-foot  panels  that  are  three  or  four  feet  high. 
The  lower  boards  must  be  far  enough  apart  to  permit  the 
sheep  to  put  their  heads  through  and  eat.  Two  or  three  times 
a  day  an  attendant  should  go  to  each  stack  and  push  the 
hay  up  to  the  panels  so  that  the  sheep  can  reach  it.  If  the 
hay  is  fed  in  this  way  and  the  sheep  harvest  the  corn  from 
the  field,  one  man  can  care  for  about  five  thousand  head. 

A  nonleguminous  roughness  a  poor  feed  for  sheep.  Prairie 
or  timothy  hay  is  never  a  satisfactory  roughness  for  sheep. 
A  large  Kansas  feeder  comparing  alfalfa  and  prairie  hay 
says :  "  There  were  two  bunches  of  lambs  that  I  handled 
the  same  way  in  every  respect  except  that  one  lot  received 
alfalfa  and  the  other  prairie  hay.  On  the  alfalfa  lot  I  made 
eight  pounds  of  gain  per  head  per  month,  while  the  prairie- 
hay  lot  gained  five  pounds  per  head  per  month."  Although 
these  results  are  not  conclusive  they  show  the  relative  value 
of  these  two  kinds  of  hay  for  sheep  feeding. 


55 


56  SHEEP  FEEDIHG 

A  summary  of  System  III.   The  main  points  in  cornfield 
feeding  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

1.  Yearlings  and  wethers  will  eat  from  one  to  three  pounds 
of  roughness  per  pound  of  grain  under  dry-lot  conditions, 
and  this  amount  should  be  available  under  field  conditions. 
Of  course  during  the  early  part  of  the  season  there  may 
be  an  abundance  of  palatable  feed  found  in  fence  corners, 
stubble  fields,  and  the  corn  blades,  but  later  there  does  not 
remain  in  the  field  much  roughness  that  is  satisfactory  to  a 
sheep ;  therefore  it  must  be  supplied  in  some  other  way. 

2.  Cornfield  feeding  is  labor  saving  but  is  wasteful  of 
feed.  This  statement  does  not  mean  that  the  system  is  waste- 
ful from  the  standpoint  of  amount  of  grain  not  eaten  or 
amount  wasted,  but  rather  from  the  fact  that  it  takes  more 
corn  per  pound  of  gain  in  the  field  than  in  the  dry  lot.   A 
feeder  who  handles  from  four  thousand  to  five  thousand 
sheep  each  year,  running  some  in  the  fields  and  feeding 
others  in  dry  lots,  gives  these  figures :  "  On  a  ninety-day  feed 
in  the  field,  a  sheep  that  eats  two  bushels  of  corn  gains  about 
twenty-one  pounds,1  and  in  the  lot  this  two  bushels  of  corn 
will  make  twenty-seven  pounds  of  gain."  According  to  these 
figures  it  takes  about  twenty-eight  per  cent  more  corn  for 
a  pound  of  gain  in  the  field  than  it  does  in  a  lot.   This  is 
explained  by  saying  that  the  cornfield  sheep  roam  about  so 
much  in  getting  their  grain  that  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
the  high  finish  that  is  generally  made  in  the  dry  lot. 

3.  If  cornfields  are  muddy  the  sheep  will  not  clean  up 
the  grain  as  they  go,  but  ordinarily  will  work  back  over  it 
after  it  dries  off ;  hence  the  first  portions  grazed  should 
always  be  easily  accessible. 

1  In  the  first  case  5.33  pounds  of  grain  made  one  pound  of  gain,  and  in 
the  second  case  4.14  pounds  of  grain  made  one  pound  of  gain. 


67 


58  SHEEP  FEEDING 

4.  Many  feeders  say  that  it  is  much  easier  to  get  sheep 
onto  full  feed  in  the  cornfield  than  in  the  lot.  Those  with 
whom  this  has  proved  to  be  the  case  take  lots  of  time  in 
getting  their  sheep  onto  feed,  and  supply  roughness  in  abun- 
dance, either  as  hay  or  undergrowth.  Too  much  emphasis 
cannot  be  laid  on  the  necessity  of  taking  a  great  deal  of 
time  to  get  the  feeders  on  full  feed.  Many  maintain  that 
this  is  the  most  important  phase  of  sheep  feeding.  After 
the  sheep  acquire  a  taste  for  the  corn,  and  before  they  get 
on  full  feed,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  let  them  fill  on  roughness 
each  day  before  turning  them  into  the  cornfields.  Wethers 
are  especially  apt  to  founder  from  overeating. 

SYSTEM  IV.  FEEDING  CORN  ON  A  BLUE-GRASS  PASTURE 

Corn  fed  on  blue  grass  saves  labor.  During  the  times  of 
scarcity  of  farm  labor  the  farmer's  attention  is  readily 
attracted  by  any  farm  operation  that  permits  a  reduction 
of  his  labor  forces.  From  this  standpoint  this  system  of 
sheep  feeding  recommends  itself. 

The  fall  growth  of  grass  to  be  saved  for  pasture  feeding. 
The  main  and  fundamental  requirements  for  feeding  corn 
to  sheep  on  pasture  is  a  very  excellent  blue-grass  sod.  When 
the  sheep  —  it  is  a  yearling  or  wether  proposition  —  reach 
the  farm  they  are  given  the  usual  course  on  short  pasture 
until  well  filled.  Next  they  are  turned  into  very  good  blue 
grass  that  has  been  saved  especially  for  them.  In  about  a 
week  they  can  be  given  their  first  feed  of  shucked  or 
snapped  corn,  thrown  out  on  the  sod  in  one  of  the  cleanest 
places  in  the  pasture.  This  first  feed,  a  very  small  one,  is 
generally  given  in  the  evening,  and  in  order  to  start  the 
sheep  to  eating  the  corn  a  few  kernels  may  be  shelled  off  at 
different  places  and  a  little  salt  sprinkled  on  them.  In  the 


MEXICAN  YEARLINGS  RECEIVING  CORN  ON  BLUE-GRASS  PASTURE 

59 


60  SHEEP  FEEDING 

morning  again  throw  out  fresh  corn,  regardless  of  whether 
the  last  is  all  eaten  or  not ;  but  feed  only  a  very  little,  for 
it  is  dangerous  to  let  too  much  uneaten  corn  accumulate 
while  starting.  Take  pains  to  string  out  each  allowance 
over  quite  an  area  so  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  a  few 
greedy  sheep  to  keep  the  others  away  and  get  it  all  them- 
selves. From  this  time  on  feed  twice  a  day,  increasing  very 
gradually  until  the  sheep  are  on  full  feed,  which  takes  from 
one  to  three  weeks.  Do  not  scatter  corn  twice  in  the  same 
place  unless  compelled  to  do  so.  If  it  is  raining  or  snowing 
during  feeding  time,  it  is  probable  that  the  sheep  will  not 
clean  up  the  usual  amount.  Do  not  force  them  to  eat  it  all 
before  more  is  given,  but  feed  at  the  customary  time  in  the 
morning  and  at  night,  reducing  the  fresh  allowance  a  little 
until  the  old  is  about  consumed.  Sheep  do  not  like  cold, 
wet  feed,  and  it  may  appear  that  they  are  wasting  a  good 
deal,  but  in  most  cases  they  will  return  to  corn  that  was 
refused  when  wet  and  clean  it  up  fairly  well  when  dry. 

Corn  thrown  on  the  grass.  It  is  a  convenient  method  of 
feeding  to  go  to  the  crib  once  a  day,  load  enough  corn  for 
both  feeds,  drive  out  to  the  pasture,  and  scatter  over  the 
cleanest,  driest  places  a  long  string  of  corn,  feeding  half  the 
load  in  the  morning  and  half  at  night.  It  takes  from  two  to 
three  bushels  of  corn  per  hundred  head  per  feed  when  on 
full  ration.  Some  prefer  shock  corn  for  feeding  on  the  grass, 
stating  that  sheep  do  not  roll  the  ears  about  as  much  in 
getting  the  corn  off  (which  generally  gets  it  dirty  and  makes 
it  unpalatable)  when  the  ears  are  on  the  stalks  as  they  do 
when  the  shucked  corn  is  fed.  Gains  from  this  system  of 
feeding  are  not  quite  as  satisfactory  as  those  obtained  in  the 
cornfield,  for  more  grain  is  wasted  and  more  labor  required. 
This  method  recommends  itself  more  particularly  to  the 


PKOFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP     61 

man  who  has  an  abundance  of  good  pasture,  the  oppor- 
tunity to  purchase  corn  delivered  to  his  crib,  and  a  great 
deal  of  difficulty  in  getting  satisfactory  labor. 

Corn  fed  in  troughs.  A  modification  of  this  system,  and 
one  that  is  more  commonly  practiced,  is  the  feeding  of  the 
grain  in  troughs  instead  of  throwing  it  on  the  grass.  The 
important  points  in  this  system  will  be  discussed  when 
speaking  of  the  dry-lot  method,  for  it  differs  from  it  only  in 
that  the  roughness  is  furnished  as  pasture  instead  of  hay. 

SYSTEM  V.  FEEDING  IN  THE  DRY  LOT,  SHED,  on  BARN 

All  methods  of  feeding  previously  discussed  have  dealt 
with  a  system  that  had  to  be  carried  on  in  the  late  summer, 
fall,  or  early  winter.  System  V  may  be  practiced  any  time 
from  August  to  May. 

Where  dry-lot  feeding  is  practiced.  The  most  extensive 
dry-lot  feeding  is  done  in  Colorado  and  in  western  Kansas 
and  Nebraska.  In  southern  Michigan  and  Minnesota,  and 
in  northern  Illinois  and  Ohio,  a  great  many  sheep  are  fed 
in  barns  and  sheds.  In  sections  of  all  these  states,  also  in 
Iowa  and  Missouri,  many  feeders  start  their  sheep  in  the  field 
and  finish  in  the  lot,  a  practice  that  under  many  conditions 
can  be  recommended. 

Dry-lot  feeding  inexpensive.  One  method  that  is  simple,  in- 
expensive, and  that  can  be  recommended  where  weather  con- 
ditions are  dry  enough  to  permit  it,  is  as  follows.  On  page  62 
is  shown  a  plan  of  a  feeding  yard  similar  to  one  that  a  large 
feeder  in  Kansas  has  constructed.  It  should  be  built  on  a 
hillside,  where  first-class  drainage  can  be  obtained.  Each  lot 
will  accommodate  from  three  hundred  to  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  sheep.  The  capacity  of  the  yard  is  based  on  hay 
room,  each  inclosure  having  about  nine  inches  per  animal. 


62 


SHEEP  FEEDING 


Of  course  a  sheep  occupies  more  than  nine  inches  of  room 
while  eating  hay,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  furnish  room  for 
all  to  eat  at  the  same  time.  The  hay  is  stacked  in  the  alleys 
and  around  the  outside  as  indicated,  and  it  is  thrown  direct 
from  the  stack  to  the  panels.  The  panels  are  from  three  to 
three  and  a  half  feet  high,  with  sufficient  room  between  the 

FEEDING  YARDS  FOR  FOUR  DOUBLE-DECK  CARS  OF  SHEEP  — ABOUT  1200 


Hay  Stack 


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Feeding  Troughs 


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PLAN  FOR  BUILDING  FEEDING  YARDS  AND  GRAIN  TROUGHS 

two  lower  boards  for  the  sheep  to  put  their  heads  through 
and  eat.  The  large  feeder  who  wishes  to  handle  more  sheep 
per  pen  than  is  possible  by  this  arrangement  may  make  the 
fence  out  of  the  .sixteen-foot  panels,  setting  each  one  at  right 
angles  to  the  other.  This  scheme  doubles  the  hay -feeding 
room  of  a  pen,  but  occupies  little  if  any  more  area.  When 
building  a  yard  like  the  one  shown  here  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
make  the  ends  of  the  yards  and  the  end  fences  to  the  stack 


64  SHEEP  FEEDING 

lanes  of  temporary  fencing,  so  that  it  will  not  be  difficult  to 
drive  in  and  out  with  hay  and  manure.  Water  is  supplied 
for  two  yards  at  a  single  trough,  so  constructed  and  protected 
that  the  sheep  cannot  get  into  it  or  in  any  way  foul  the  water. 
It  is  very  important  that  these  troughs  be  kept  sweet  and 
clean.  A  box  for  salt  is  kept  near  the  watering  trough. 

Arrangement  of  the  feeding  yard.  The  feeding  yard  is  so 
arranged  that  one  man  can  do  the  feeding  and  keep  busy, 
for  he  can  prepare  the  feed  for  one  lot  while  another  is 
eating.  As  outlined  here,  three  hundred  sheep  eat  at  a  time, 
provided  fourteen  sixteen-foot  feeding  bunks  are  used.  This 
gives  about  sixteen  inches  of  trough  room  for  each  sheep, 
while  twelve  are  generally  considered  sufficient.  Plans  for 
building  the  troughs  appear  on  page  62.  The  illustration 
on  page  63  shows  the  troughs  built  and  ready  for  use.  From 
every  standpoint  this  style  of  feeding  bunk  is  the  most 
satisfactory  that  the  writer  has  ever  seen.  It  contains  the 
following  essential  points :  it  is  hard  to  tip  over ;  it  has  a 
broad,  flat  bottom  which  prevents  the  sheep  from  getting 
too  large  mouthfuls  and  eating  too  fast ;  sheep  will  not  put 
their  feet  in  it  or  stand  in  it;  they  cannot  jump  over  it; 
they  can  eat  from  both  sides ;  it  is  durable,  light,  convenient 
to  handle,  and  cheap  and  easy  to  construct. 

Self  feeders.  Corn  cannot  be  successfully  fed  from  self 
feeders  unless  mixed  with  something  to  lighten  it,  as  screen- 
ings, cob,  bran,  or  cut  hay.  Some  of  the  largest  feeding 
plants  in  the  country  use  nothing  but  self  feeders,  but  they 
are  so  constructed  that  it  is  necessary  for  a  man  to  rake 
the  feed  down  two  or  three  times  a  day,  and  corn  straight 
is  never  fed  from  them. 

Increases  in  feed.  Sheep  that  are  to  be  yard-  or  barn-fed 
do  not  have  to  be  started  on  pasture  ;  in  fact,  it  is  generally 


PROFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP     65 

the  best  practice  to  place  them  at  once  in  the  feeding  in- 
closure  and  start  them  on  a  light  feed  of  roughness.  The 
second  or  third  day  after  they  are  filled  on  hay  a  small  feed 
of  grain  may  be  given,  and  this  very  gradually  increased  to 
a  full  feed.  Some  very  successful  feeders  take  over  three 
weeks  to  get  their  sheep  on  full  feed.  They  increase  the 
feed  only  one  peck  per  hundred  head,  and  each  increase  is 
tried  three  days  before  another  is  given.  Perhaps  the  great- 
est difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  there  are  always  a  few 
backward  sheep  that  have  to  be  coaxed  and  pampered 
while  the  others  seem  to  be  going  nicely.  The  increase  of 
feed  has  to  be  based  on  the  rate  at  which  the  most  back- 
ward ones  will  stand  it.  One  feeder  says  that  a  full  feed 
is  all  a  sheep  will  eat,  save  one  handful. 

Different  kinds  of  feeds  for  sheep.  The  grain  ration  for  dry- 
lot  feeding  is  greatly  varied.  Beet  pulp,  peas,  spelt,  barley, 
oats,  bran,  oil  meal,  cottonseed  meal,  cotton  hulls,  screen- 
ings, and,  last  and  best,  corn  are  the  principal  feeds  used. 

Beet  pulp.  Beet  pulp  is  of  importance  in  a  few  regions  in 
Colorado  near  the  sugar  factories.  It  is  not  a  feed  that  can 
be  shipped  any  great  distance  and  fed  at  a  profit. 

Peas.  Peas  are  a  most  excellent  sheep  feed  and  make  a 
very  desirable  quality  of  mutton,  but  with  the  exception  of 
the  field-peas  regions  in  Colorado  they  are  not  widely  fed, 
on  account  of  the  high  price  they  command. 

The  small  grains.  Spelt,  barley,  and  oats  are  crops  that 
can  be  grown  in  the  Northwest  quite  successfully,  and  are 
very  palatable  sheep  feeds.  They  are  not  as  fattening  as 
corn,  but  certain  comparative  feeding  tests  have  shown  that 
they  have  a  Very  good  feeding  value.  They  are  not  the 
feeds  for  the  corn-belt  feeder,  but  deserve  consideration  in 
the  regions  where  they  are  grown. 


66  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Value  of  concentrates.  Bran,  oil  meal,  and  cottonseed 
products  are  thought  by  many  good  feeders  to  be  necessary 
supplements  when  feeding  corn,  and  are,  without  doubt, 
excellent  feeds,  —  especially  the  first  two,  —  but  it  is  ques- 
tionable if  they  can  be  fed  with  corn  at  a  profit  when  good 
clover  or  alfalfa  hay  forms  the  roughness.  With  the  non- 
leguminous  hays  they  become  much  more  necessary.  The 
feeder  who  has  to  use  timothy,  prairie  hay,  or  stover  for  a 
roughness  can  profitably  feed  oil  meal  —  or  cottonseed  meal 
if  he  lives  in  the  South  and  does  not  make  too  long  a  feed. 
If  corn  and  a  concentrate  are  fed  together,  the  corn  should 
be  in  such  a  form  that  the  two  can  be  mixed,  for  other- 
wise the  sheep  seem  to  prefer  to  eat  up  the  concentrate 
first  and  then  run  around  and  look  for  more  before  they 
begin  on  the  corn.  This  may  appear  as  a  minor  point,  but 
its  value  is  shown  by  a  large  feeder  who  split  a  bunch  of 
sheep,  half  getting  corn  straight  and  the  other  half  receiving 
corn  and  a  supplement ;  otherwise  they  were  treated  alike. 
At  the  end  of  a  seventy-one  day  feed  the  corn-straight  group 
had  gained  seven  pounds  more  than  the  corn-and-supplement 
lot.  The  feeder's  explanation  for  the  poorer  gains  made 
by  those  receiving  the  supplement  was  similar  to  the  one 
mentioned.  He  fed  the  concentrate  with  ear  corn. 

Screenings.  A  few  years  ago  one  could  have  said  with 
safety  that,  in  regard  to  quantity  fed,  screenings  stood 
close  to  corn  as  a  sheep  feed.  There  were  large  feeding 
stations  near  the  milling  centers  in  Minnesota  and  Wis- 
consin, and  some  near  Chicago,  where  thousands  of  sheep 
were  fed  annually  the  screenings  that  the  big  flour  mills 
sold  for  three  to  four  dollars  a  ton.  Now  most  of  these 
feeding  plants  are  out  of  the  business,  and  will  probably 
never  take  it  up  again. 


PROFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP     67 

A  few  facts  concerning  screenings.  A  man  who  has  been 
in  sheep  work  in  this  country  for  twenty-five  years,  and 
is  considered  one  of  our  best  authorities  on  feeding  and 
marketing  sheep,  is  willing  to  go  on  record  as  follows: 
*  What,'  do  you  ask,  '  is  the  present  condition  of  the 
sheep-feeding  business  ? '  Well,  this  industry  is  going  back- 
ward fast.  All  of  our  big  feeders  have  either  gone  bankrupt 
or  gotten  out  of  the  business.  We  cannot  get  away  from 
these  facts.  The  sheep-feeding  business  is  losing  ground  and 
losing  it  fast.  Only  a  few  years  ago  St.  Paul  fed  from  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  to  five  hundred  thousand  sheep 
on  screenings  every  winter;  this  year  [1908]  ten  thousand 
will  cover  the  number  fed  at  this  point.  Winona,  Minne- 
sota, fed  one  hundred  thousand ;  this  year  none.  Wabasha, 
Minnesota,  fifty  thousand  ;  this  year  five  thousand.  Chicago 
feed  yards  have  a  capacity  for  feeding  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand ;  eighty  thousand  were  fed  this  year.  In  1907, 
Colorado  fed  one  million  six  hundred  and  sixty  thousand; 
this  year  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  Every  big 
feeder  from  Colorado  to  St.  Paul  that  stuck  to  it  has  gone 
broke.  Why  ?  St.  Paul  and  Chicago  points  used  to  feed 
wheat  screenings  that  were  chiefly  made  at  Minnesota 
and  Wisconsin  milling  centers,  that  sold  for  three  dollars 
and  a  half  per  ton  and  previous  to  this  were  dumped  into 
the  Mississippi  River ;  now  these  screenings  are  quoted  at 
fourteen  to  eighteen  dollars  per  ton.  The  screenings  that 
used  to  sell  at  three  dollars  and  a  half  were  good,  but  now 
they  are  principally  dirt  and  chaff.  A  few  mill  owners  and 
some  brokers  got  control  of  nearly  all  the  screenings,  and 
they  clean,  reclean,  mix  and  remix,  put  in  a  little  sand,  a 
little  chaff,  and  some  mustard  seed,  and  then  land  Mr.  Feeder. 
There  is  another  man  in  the  screening  deal,  the  stock-food 


68  SHEEP  FEEDING 

manufacturer,  who  buys  dust,  chaff,  oat  hulls,  and  corn  cobs, 
mixes  molasses  with  it  and  sells  it  for  fancy  prices.  Is  it 
good  ?  Well,  maybe.  The  sheep  business  ought  to  be  good  ; 
it  is  not.  High-priced  screenings  that  were  worthless  have 
ruined  many  a  man,  but  the  big  losses  have  been  caused  by 
the  markets  going  to  pieces  just  when  a  great  many  sheep 
were  ready  and  had  to  be  marketed.  It  is  up  to  the  packer 
or  butcher  as  to  who  put  the  big  feeders  out  of  business,  for 
they  are  about  all  gone  now.  The  packer  says  that  he  is 
losing  money  on  sheep,  and  if  you  ask  the  butcher  about  it 
when  you  pay  twenty  and  thirty  cents  a  pound  for  lamb 
chops,  he  will  tell  you  that  it  is  the  packer's  fault ;  so  there 
you  are.  I  believe  the  butcher  is  most  to  blame,  and  I  think 
he  would  sell  more  mutton  and  make  more  money  if  he 
sold  at  a  smaller  price  per  pound.  One  thing  that  is  sure 
is  the  fact  that  at  the  time  of  year  when  the  best  lambs 
are  marketed  they  sell  the  lowest.  At  any  rate,  it  is  a  sure 
thing  that  no  one  should  feed  sheep  except  the  farmer  who  has 
his  own  feed.  The  speculator  has  done  it  for  the  last  twenty 
years  but  he  cannot  do  it  any  more." 

Corn  is  king.  Corn  is  the  standard  grain  for  fattening 
sheep,  and  when  combined  with  leguminous  hay  makes  as 
satisfactory  gains  and  produces  as  good  a  quality  of  mutton 
as  can  be  desired. 

Successful  feeders  differ  widely  in  their  opinion  as  to  the 
best  form  in  which  to  feed  corn  to  sheep.  Some  say  they 
would  not  have  their  corn  shelled  or  ground  for  their  sheep 
if  it  could  be  done  for  nothing,  while  others  feed  it  shelled, 
and  some  feed  it  ground.  The  principle  which  governs  this 
question  is  one  that  has  to  do  with  rapidity  of  eating.  Sheep 
are  inclined  to  gulp  their  grain  too  fast,  so  a  good  feeder 
tries  to  supply  the  grain  in  a  form  that  will  prevent  this. 


70  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Ear  corn.  Undoubtedly  ear  corn  is  satisfactory  for  wethers, 
yearlings,  ewes  with  good  mouths,  and,  in  some  cases,  lambs. 
Some  grind  the  ear,  cob  and  all,  to  a  size  that  just  breaks 
the  kernels  of  corn  and  leaves  the  pieces  of  cob  about  the 
size  of  a  pea.  In  order  to  get  the  corn  without  eating  the 
cob  the  sheep  have  to  eat  slowly.  Others  grind  corn  and 
cob  very  fine,  and  although  this  meal  can  be  eaten  rapidly, 
it  is  so  lightened  with  the  cob  that  unsatisfactory  results 
seldom  follow.  This  is  one  of  the  most  expensive  forms  in 
which  to  feed  corn.  Shelled  corn  from  the  hand  of  an  ex- 
perienced and  skillful  feeder  is  generally  fed  with  safety.  If 
it  can  be  fed  with  cut  hay  it  is  very  satisfactory.  Corn  meal, 
unless  fed  with  screenings,  cut  hay,  or  some  other  feed  to 
lighten  it,  is  perhaps  the  most  undesirable  form  of  all. 

Frequency  of  feeding.  Some  feeders  say  that  twice  a  day 
is  often  enough  to  feed  grain.  An  observant  and  intelligent 
Kansas  feeder  gives  his  experience  on  the  subject  as  follows : 
:t  Two  carloads  of  Mexican  lambs,  weighing  forty-five  pounds, 
were  split  into  two  lots  and  treated  alike  except  in  regard  to 
the  number  of  times  a  day  they  were  fed  corn.  Each  group 
received  all  the  alfalfa  hay  they  could  eat  and  seven  and 
one-half  bushels  of  shelled  corn  per  day.  One  lot  was 
grained  twice  a  day,  and  the  other,  three.  At  the  end  of  a 
seventy-day  feed  those  that  were  fed  twice  a  day  weighed 
sixty-three  and  a  half  pounds,  the  others  seventy  and  a 
half  pounds.  Now  I  feed  three  times  a  day." 

The  proportion  of  grain  to  roughness.  It  is  hard  to  state 
with  any  degree  of  satisfaction  just  the  proper  proportions 
and  amounts  of  hay  and  grain  that  should  be  fed  to  fatten- 
ing sheep.  The  average  l  of  all  the  experimental  data  on 

1  These  figures  are  from  data  compiled  by  C.  G.  Starr,  an  advanced 
student  in  the  University  of  Missouri,  1906. 


PROFITABLE  SYSTEMS  FOR  FEEDING  SHEEP     71 

feeding  sheep  shows  that  it  takes  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  pounds  of  grain  and  five  hundred  and  fourteen  pounds 
of  roughness  to  make  one  hundred  pounds  of  gain.  On 
either  side  of  the  average  we  find  variations  from  six  hundred 
and  seven  pounds  of  corn  and  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  pounds  of  alfalfa  to  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
pounds  of  corn  and  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  pounds 
of  alfalfa  to  make  one  hundred  pounds  of  gain.  Also,  one 
hundred  and  seventy  pounds  of  corn  and  blue-grass  or  rape 
pasture  have  made  one  hundred  pounds  of  gain.  The  rate 
of  gain  is  from  one  fifth  to  one  half  of  a  pound  per  head 
per  day. 

These  experimental  figures  show  a  very  great  variation, 
but  their  accuracy  is  borne  out  in  practice.  One  large 
Illinois  feeder  says,  "  When  my  lambs  are  on  full  feed,  I 
give  three  and  one-half  pounds  of  grain  and  one  fourth  of 
a  pound  of  clover  hay  per  head  per  day."  This  man  feeds  a 
low  grade  of  screenings  and  corn  meal.  Another  says,  "  I  take 
a  great  deal  of  pains  to  feed  all  the  hay  I  can,  and  I  fatten 
my  lambs  on  seven  tenths  of  a  pound  of  corn  and  two  pounds 
of  alfalfa  hay  per  day."  This  is  equivalent  to  two  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds  of  corn  and  eight  hundred  pounds  of  hay 
per  one  hundred  pounds  of  gain.  The  following  statement 
is  from  a  neighbor  to  the  second  man  quoted :  "I  try  to 
make  my  hay  go  as  far  as  possible  by  cutting  it  and  mix- 
ing it  with  the  grain.  I  feed  one  pound  of  corn  and  one 
and  one-fourth  pounds  of  hay  per  head  per  day."  This  is 
equivalent  to  four  hundred  pounds  of  corn  and  five  hun- 
dred pounds  of  hay  per  one  hundred  pounds  of  gain. 

Adaptability  of  sheep  under  varying  conditions.  These 
figures  should  present  no  little  encouragement  to  the  sheep 
feeder,  for  they  show  the  wonderful  adaptability  that  sheep 


72  SHEEP  FEEDING 

have  of  profitably  consuming  feed  in  greatly  varying  pro- 
portions. This,  then,  solves  the  problem  for  the  farmer  who 
finds  it  wise  to  grow  a  large  proportion  of  clover  every  year, 
but  does  not  like  to  sell  it  from  his  farm ;  and  equally  well 
can  the  big  corn  raiser  feed  out  his  corn  to  a  bunch  of  sheep, 
although  he  has  to  reduce  the  roughness  fed  to  a  minimum. 
Undoubtedly  some  of  the  cheapest  and  most  rapid  gains  are 
made  with  a  grain  and  pasture  combination.  If  a  field  of 
rape,  late  clover,  or  fall  blue  grass  is  available  to  sheep  that 
are  on  corn,  some  very  satisfactory  results  may  be  expected. 

Short  feeding.  A  phase  of  System  V,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
a  barn-feeding  proposition,  that  is  practiced  in  southern 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Ohio,  depends  on  the  failure  of 
the  original  shipper  to  put  his  sheep  on  the  market  in  a 
finished  condition.  Some  of  the  feeders  in  the  states  men- 
tioned keep  a  constant  watch  at  the  stockyards  for  sheep 
that  have  just  been  "  warmed  up  "  in  a  cornfield  or  shipped 
so  far  that  the  heavy  shrink  takes  them  out  of  the  fat 
classes.  When  such  lots  are  found  these  men,  who  often 
have  to  compete  with  the  packers  for  their  purchases,  take 
the  sheep  out  to  their  barns  to  be  short-fed. 

Sheep-feeding  barns.  These  sheep-feeding  barns  are  gener- 
ally built  to  accommodate  from  one  to  a  dozen  carloads  of 
sheep.  The  hayracks  may  be  used  as  partitions  between  the 
pens.  Almost  any  arrangement  of  racks  that  allows  the  sheep 
to  eat  without  pulling  the  hay  out  is  satisfactory,  for  in  this 
way  waste  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  If  self  feeders  are  not 
used,  feeding  troughs  may  be  placed  in  separate  feeding  pens 
or  in  the  alleyway,  and  the  sheep  turned  from  their  hay 
quarters  to  them  at  each  feed.  Water  can  be  supplied  at  a 
trough  built  between  two  pens.  From  five  to  seven  square 
feet  of  space  should  be  allowed  per  animal.  No  pains  can 


73 


74  SHEEP  FEEDING- 

well  be  spared  to  get  perfect  ventilation  in  a  sheep  barn,  as 
it  is  absolutely  essential  to  success. 

Effect  of  shearing.  Nearly  all  the  sheep  that  go  to  feed 
yards  in  late  winter  or  early  spring  are  sheared  before  being 
returned.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  among  shepherds  that 
much  more  rapid  gains  can  be  made  on  sheep  after  they  are 
sheared  than  before.  Sheep  that  have  previously  been  doing 
poorly  will  frequently  take  on  a  new  start  and  gain  most 
excellently  after  their  wool  is  clipped.  The  men  who  do 
early-spring  feeding  seldom  have  very  much  margin  on 
their  sheep,  but,  on  account  of  their  rapid  gains  and,  in 
many  cases,  heavy  clip  of  wool,  it  is  not  necessary. 

The  difference  in  price  between  shorn  and  unshorn  sheep 
varies  from  fifty  cents  to  one  dollar,  depending  in  most  cases 
on  the  price  of  wool  and  the  season  of  the  year.  Unshorn 
sheep  during  hot  weather  are  not  liked  by  the  buyers,  for 
they  claim  the  sweating  of  the  sheep  makes  the  mutton 
soft.  The  profits  from  clipping  very  light  shearers  are  some- 
times questionable.  If  a  feeder  intends  to  feed  from  fall 
until  spring,  he  should  handle  the  light-wooled  classes  in 
the  fall  and  the  heavier-wooled  ones  in  the  spring.  Some 
years  there  is  relatively  a  great  difference  between  wooled 
and  clipped  sheep,  in  favor  of  the  clipped,  and  when  such 
conditions  exist,  the  feeder  should  take  advantage  of  it. 
If  it  is  impracticable  to  do  the  shearing  at  home,  the  sheep 
may  be  billed  to  one  of  the  feeding  yards  near  the  markets, 
where  they  will  be  clipped  and  fed  until  the  owner  sees  fit 
to  market  them.  It  is  generally  advisable  to  hold  sheep  a 
week  or  two  after  being  clipped,  in  order  that  they  may 
take  on  a  fill  and  their  wool  grow  a  little,  which  rounds  out 
their  forms  and  gives  them  a  more  pleasing  and  symmetrical 
appearance  on  the  market. 


76  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Feeding  stations  important  factors.  A  phase  of  the  sheep 
business  that  will  probably  become  more  important  as  the 
feeding  of  sheep  goes  from  the  hands  of  the  professional  to 
those  of  the  unskilled  farmer,  is  the  feeding  stations,  that  run 
a  "  sheep  hotel  for  hungry  boarders,"  so  to  speak.  On  nearly 
all  the  main  lines  of  the  railroads  running  into  our  large 
markets,  particularly  Chicago,  there  are  feeding  stations 
where  those  who  have  to  ship  sheep  long  distances,  or  farmers 
who  have  been  unable  to  obtain  that  market  topping  finish, 
may  stop  and  have  the  finishing  touches  added.  These 
stations  do  all  their  feeding  in  large  barns,  and  are  prepared 
to  handle  almost  any  number  from  a  single  deck  (one  hundred 
and  twenty-five)  up  to  a  good  many  thousand  head.  Charges 
for  feed  and  care  are  made  at  the  rate  of  so  much  per  ton 
for  the  feed  consumed,  generally  about  two  dollars'  advance 
over  market  prices  for  hay  and  grain.  For  example,  one  large 
station  had  the  following  rates  published  from  October  to 
December,  1908,  for  transient  feeds;  a  feed  for  from  sev- 
enty to  ninety  days  was  two  dollars  less  per  ton  of  feed : 

Screenings $18.00  per  ton 

Clover,  timothy,  or  mixed  hay 14.00  per  ton 

Alfalfa 19.00  per  ton 

Cracked  or  whole  corn 32.00  per  ton 

Bedding 10.00  per  ton 

Oats .75  per  bu. 

This  rate  included  all  charges,  as  loading,  salt,  water, 
and  care. 


CHAPTER  V 

GROWING  THE  FEED  FOR  FATTENING  SHEEP 

Iii  a  discussion  of  the  farm  management  of  feeder  sheep 
it  would  seem  that  the  production  of  the  crops  used  would 
be  as  important  a  phase  of  the  work  as  the  purchase  of  the 
feeders  or  the  methods  of  feeding.  From  this  standpoint, 
and  with  a  desire  of  presenting  the  subject  as  it  confronts 
the  farmer,  this  chapter  is  written. 

GROWING  THE  CROPS  FOR  SYSTEM  I,  OR  THE  PASTUR- 
ING OF  A  CATCH  CROP  GROWN  IN  CORN 

Planting  cowpeas  in  corn.  It  is  presupposed  that  the 
reader  has  a  general  and  satisfactory  understanding  of  the 
best  methods  of  growing  corn,  hence  its  culture  will  be  dis- 
cussed here  only  as  it  concerns  the  catch  crop.  When  follow- 
ing Feeding  System  I,  one  half  of  the  cornfields  that  are 
to  be  pastured  should  be  sown  to  cowpeas  and  one  half  to 
rape.  There  are  three  accepted  ways  of  planting  cowpeas  in 
corn.  The  first,  considered  as  by  far  the  best  by  men  who 
have  tried  all  three,  is  to  plant  the  peas  at  the  same  time 
the  corn  is  planted.  When  this  method  is  followed  it  is 
essential  to  delay  the  corn  planting  until  the  ground  has 
become  warm  in  the  spring,  —  in  the  latitude  of  north  Mis- 
souri from  the  middle  of  May  to  the  tenth  of  June.  The 
peas  may  be  put  in  with  a  cowpea  attachment  to  the  corn 
planter,  this  method  giving  a  uniform  stand  of  both  corn  and 

77 


78  SHEEP  FEEDING 

peas.  They  should  be  planted  at  the  rate  of  about  fifteen  to 
twenty  pounds  per  acre,  but,  as  the  size  of  the  peas  varies  so 
greatly,  a  better  rule  for  the  correct  proportion  of  peas  to 
corn  is,  to  every  kernel  of  corn  plant  one  pea  and  a  half. 
The  varieties  that  have  proved  to  be  the  most  successful 
with  this  method  of  planting  are  the  Black,  Red  Ripper, 
Clay,  and  Whippoorwill. 

The  second  method  of  planting  cowpeas  in  corn,  and  the 
one  that  is  probably  most  widely  recommended,  is  to  drill 
from  two  to  three  rows  of  peas  between  the  corn  rows  at 
the  time  of  laying  by  the  corn.  This  is  usually  done  with 
a  one-horse  grain  drill,  the  drilling  taking  the  place  of  the 
last  cultivation.  About  twenty  to  thirty  pounds  of  seed  per 
acre  is  generally  sufficient.  More  than  three  rows  of  peas 
makes  such  a  heavy  growth  that  no  pods  will  form ;  in 
fact  there  are  fewer  pods  matured  with  this  method,  owing 
to  lateness  of  planting,  the  shade  of  the  corn,  and  fre- 
quently lack  of  moisture,  than  when  the  peas  are  planted 
according  to  the  first  method.  The  early -maturing  varieties 
and  those  that  are  less  inclined  to  vine,  such  as  New  Era  or 
Extra  Early  Black  Eye,  should  be  planted  at  laying-by  time. 

The  third  method  is  mentioned  not  as  a  recommendation 
but  on  account  of  its  being  so  widely  practiced.  It  simply 
consists  of  broadcasting  the  peas  ahead  of  the  last  cultiva- 
tion, at  the  rate  of  from  thirty  to  forty-five  pounds  per  acre. 
This  method  is  surest  of  failure  during  unfavorable  years 
because  a  good  many  of  the  peas  are  not  covered,  and 
those  that  do  start  are  generally  so  shallow-rooted  that  a 
series  of  dry  days  is  apt  to  kill  the  young  plants.  The  main 
point  in  favor  of  broadcasting  the  peas  is  its  rapidity  of 
sowing.  It  is  customary  for  a  man  to  ride  a  horse  up  and 
down  about  every  third  or  fourth  row  and  either  scatter 


WSffei^ 


v  < 
>••".; ;*^ 


COWPEAS    NOT    ONLY    FURNISH    CHEAP   AND   EXCELLENT   LAMB    FEED    BUT 
ALSO  AID  MATERIALLY  IN  IMPROVING  SOIL  TEXTURE  AND  FERTILITY 

79 


80  .,    SHEEP  FEEDING 

the  peas  by  hand  or  use  a  seeder  that  can  be  carried  on  his 
shoulder ;  a  more  even  distribution  can  be  obtained  with  the 
latter  method.  The  same  varieties  should  be  sown  when 
broadcasting  as  when  drilling. 

A  practical  farmer's  experience.  .A  northeast  Missouri 
farmer,  who  plants  cowpeas  in  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  his  corn,  states  :  "  I  have  tried  putting  peas  in  corn 
at  planting  time,  drilling  them  in  at  laying-by  time,  and 
broadcasting  at  laying-by  time,  and  I  find  that  those  planted 
with  the  corn  are  incomparably  better  at  all  times  of  the 
year  than  those  planted  in  the  other  ways ;  drilling  at  laying- 
by  time  is  much  better  than  broadcasting.  On  July  30  one 
year  I  made  a  very  careful  examination  of  my  cornfields  to 
see  what  effect  the  peas  were  having  on  the  corn,  for  I  had 
an  agreement  with  my  renters  that  I  would  make  good  any 
decrease  in  the  yield  of  corn  that  was  caused  by  the  peas. 
The  results  of  my  observations  and  the  conclusion  to  which 
they  have  led  are  as  follows:  first,  peas  that  were  put  in 
at  corn-planting  time  had  made  vines  seven  and  eight  feet 
long ;  second,  in  September  I  pulled  up  a  vine  that  had 
thirty-seven  well-matured  pods  on  it ;  third,  I  had  one 
forty-acre  field  of  corn  that  did  not  have  peas  in  it,  and 
it  was  the  only  corn  on  my  farm  that  fired.  All  during  the 
driest  part  of  the  year  the  soil  remained  moist  where  the 
cowpeas  were,  but  became  quite  dry  in  the  forty-acre  field ; 
fourth,  the  best  corn  and  the  heaviest  growth  of  peas  were 
invariably  growing  together ;  fifth,  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  corn  alone  I  believe  it  is  advisable  to  plant  cowpeas  in 
it,  and  I  do  so  whether  I  have  any  way  of  pasturing  them 
or  not."  The  planting  of  the  corn  and  cowpeas  at  the  same 
time,  with  a  pea  attachment  to  the  planter,  is  undoubtedly 
the  best  method  known  at  present. 


GROWING  FEED  FOR  FATTENING  SHEEP      81 

Other  ways  of  utilizing  the  cowpeas.  The  words  of  this 
extensive  farmer  sum  up  and  state  very  clearly  the  opinions 
and  results  obtained  by  others  all  over  the  country.  Many 
say  they  are  confident  that  the  corn  is  benefited  enough 
by  the  presence  of  the  cowpeas  to  pay  to  plant  them  even 
though  the  vines  are  not  pastured  by  any  kind  of  stock. 
Cowpeas  are  seldom,  if  ever,  harvested  by  themselves  when 
sown  in  the  corn,  so  it  is  hard  to  estimate  what  the  yield 
would  be.  In  some  cases  in  the  South  enough  of  the  pods 
are  gathered  by  hand  to  furnish  the  seed  for  the  succeeding 
year's  crop,  but  this  is  hardly  practicable  on  a  commercial 
scale.  A  very  feasible  and  profitable  practice  is  to  cut  the 
corn  with  the  pea  vines  twined  about  it  before  the  vines 
are  killed  by  frost.  Let  the  cowpeas  and  corn  cure  in  the 
shock,  and  you  then  have  some  of  the  most  palatable  and 
valuable  stover  that  can  be  obtained,  and  it  is  relished  by 
all  classes  of  stock. 

Broadcasting  rape.  The  part  of  the  cornfield  that  is  to 
be  planted  to  rape  should  be  sown  at  laying-by  time.  It  is 
customary  to  broadcast  the  rape  ahead  of  the  last  cultivation, 
using  from  three  to  four  pounds  per  acre ;  however,  one 
would  be  more  certain  of  a  stand  if  the  seed  were  drilled 
instead  of  broadcasted.  Ordinarily  the  rape  does  not  make 
a  very  heavy  growth  until  the  corn  has  passed  the  height  of 
its  growing  season,  but  from  then  until  cold  weather  it  does 
remarkably  well.  The  rape  makes  its  best  growth  in  the 
fence  corners  and  at  the  ends  of  the  corn  rows,  where  it 
receives  more  sunshine  than  is  possible  in  the  dense  portions 
of  the  corn.  Here  it  serves  a  very  useful  purpose  in  taking 
the  place  of  the  weeds.  It  may  also  be  sown  along  the  fence 
rows  in  the  cornfields  where  the  cowpeas  were  planted,  and 
in  this  way  the  sheep  that  graze  down  the  cowpeas  will  have 


82  SHEEP  FEEDING- 

a  chance  to  get  started  on  the  rape  before  they  leave  the  peas, 
thus  making  the  change  from  the  peas  to  the  rape  less  abrupt. 
The  Dwarf  Essex  is  the  variety  that  is  commonly  used. 

The  value  of  rape  from  the  practical  standpoint.  Concern- 
ing the  views  of  practical  farmers  on  the  use  and  benefits 
of  rape  the  following  may  be  quoted.  A  north  Missouri 
farmer  says :  "  I  sow  three  pounds  of  rapeseed  in  all  my 
corn  every  year  just  to  keep  the  ground  from  washing  during 
the  fall.  I  consider  that  it  pays  from  this  standpoint  alone." 
An  Iowa  farmer  remarks :  "  I  have  sown  rape  in  my  corn 
for  many  years  and  during  favorable  seasons  it  has  averaged 
knee-high  all  over  the  field.  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
corn  alone  I  consider  the  rape  beneficial,  for  I  never  had 
corn  fire  with  rape  in  it  and  it  prevents  the  ground  from 
washing  in  the  fall.  As  for  the  rape  affecting  the  yield  of 
the  corn  I  cannot  say,  except  that  my  system  of  corn,  rape, 
and  sheep  has  increased  the  yield  of  my  corn  in  six  years 
from  an  average  of  forty  to  sixty  bushels  per  acre."  These 
statements  are  representative  of  many  others  that  might  be 
given,  all  acclaiming  its  value  and  none  stating  that  it  ever 
affected  either  soil  or  main  crop  in  any  but  a  satisfactory  way. 

Returns  from  catch  crops.  Now  that  suggestions  have 
been  outlined  for  the  growing  of  catch  crops,  we  may  justly 
ask  what  returns  may  be  expected  from  their  proper  use. 
The  cowpeas  and  rape  should  not  be  sown  together,  for  the 
growth  that  starts  from  this  mixture  is  too  heavy  to  mature 
and  hence  neither  do  well.  Sow  the  rape  on  the  richest  soil. 
The  cowpeas  should  be  utilized  first,  for  they  are  killed  by 
frost ;  then  the  rape  may  be  turned  onto  and  pastured  until 
late  fall  or  early  winter.  A  good  growth  of  one-half  acre  of 
cowpeas  and  one-half  acre  of  rape  will  put  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  pounds  of  gain  on  from  six  to  ten  Western  lambs  in 


GROWING  FEED  FOB  FATTENING  SHEEP   83 

from  seventy  to  one  hundred  days.  This  amount  of  gain 
will  in  most  cases  fatten  them.  These  results  are  obtained 
on  the  undergrowth  alone,  for  the  lambs  will  not  eat  the  corn 
under  ordinary  conditions  unless  forced  or  taught  to  do  it. 

GROWING  THE  CROPS  FOR  SYSTEM  II,  OR  THE  PASTURING 
OF  A  FORAGE  CROP  GROWN  BY  ITSELF 

Crops  grown  alone.  Crops  that  are  commonly  grown  by 
themselves,  to  be  pastured  down  while  green  by  fattening 
sheep,  and  in  some  cases  by  hogs,  are  rape,  cowpeas,  field 
peas,  and,  in  the  South,  peanuts.  The  latter  are  essentially  a 
hog  crop,  so  their  growth  and  use  will  not  be  discussed  here. 

Rape.  It  is  a  common  and  useful  practice  to  sow  rapeseed 
in  grain  when  it  is  from  two  to  four  inches  high,  or  with  the 
spring  grain  crop.  In  either  case  it  is  broadcasted  at  the  rate 
of  from  three  to  four  pounds  per  acre  and  lightly  harrowed. 
When  the  main  crop  is  removed  the  rape  comes  on,  and  during 
favorable  years  makes  a  very  excellent  growth.  In  preparing 
the  ground  for  a  crop  of  rape  great  pains  should  be  taken 
to  make  a  very  fine  seed  bed.  Rapeseed  is  quite  small,  and 
if  sown  on  lumpy,  ill-prepared  ground  a  large  amount  of  it 
may  never  grow.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  on  the 
good  results  attending  a  well-made  seed  bed  and  the  great 
possibility  of  a  failure  if  the  seed  is  planted  on  carelessly  pre- 
pared ground.  Rape  may  be  sown  from  early  spring  to  July. 
The  common  practice  is  to  broadcast  it  and  drag  it  in,  but  a 
very  much  better  yield  can  be  obtained  by  drilling  it  in  rows 
with  a  small  garden  drill,  using  from  three  to  four  pounds 
per  acre.  The  rows  should  be  far  enough  apart  to  permit  of 
cultivation,  and  each  time  the  rape  is  pastured  down  the 
stock  should  be  turned  oft7  and  the  cultivator  started.  If  the 


84  SHEEP  FEEDING 

pasturing  has  not  been  too  close  and  rains  are  at  all  favor- 
able, the  rape  will  make  a  new  growth;  and  by  thus  caring 
for  it  a  green  pasture  will  be  made  available  from  spring 
until  late  fall,  for  this  crop  is  not  injured  by  frost. 

Rape  when  grown  alone.  If  the  rape  is  pastured  when  it  is 
the  only  crop  occupying  the  ground,  hurdles  or  some  kind 
of  temporary  fencing  should  be  used  to  keep  the  stock  from 
running  over  the  whole  field,  for  in  this  way  they  waste  no 
small  amount.  Trials  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin  show 
that  an  acre  of  rape  has  a  feeding  value  equivalent  to  a  ton 
and  a  quarter  of  grain  when  fed  in  conjunction  with  grain, 
and  other  tests  show  that  a  good  growth  will  pasture  from 
five  to  twelve  lambs  for  from  three  to  four  months.  Yields 
as  high  as  fifty  tons  of  the  green  crop  per  acre  have  been 
reported,  but  twenty  to  thirty  tons  is  ordinarily  considered 
a  good  yield.  When  turning  any  kind  of  stock  on  rape  it 
must  be  done  slowly,  for  there  is  more  or  less  danger  from 
bloat.  This  caution  applies  to  all  green  crops  that  grow 
luxuriantly  and  in  such  a  form  that  stock  can  eat  large 
amounts  in  a  short  time. 

Pasturing  of  crops  sometimes  an  injury.  On  certain  types 
of  soil  pasturing  of  crops  during  wet  weather  may  tend  to 
pack  and  thus  injure  it.  It  is  a  difficult  matter,  however, 
to  prevent  this  when  the  stock  is  once  on  a  full  feed  of  the 
ration,  for  if  they  are  removed,  there  is  danger  of  founder 
when  they  are  returned.  It  is  generally  the  soils  that  are 
low  in  humus  that  most  readily  pack,  but  as  the  pasturing 
of  crops  increases  the  humus  we  see  that  a  continuation  of 
the  practice  that  causes  the  trouble  will  ultimately  cure  it. 

Utilization  of  cowpeas  when  grown  alone.  Detailed  methods 
of  growing  cowpeas  cannot  well  be  given  here,  for  such  a  dis- 
cussion would  occupy  a  publication  by  itself ;  in  fact  nearly 


85 


86  SHEEP  FEEDING 

every  state,  as  well  as  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  has 
publications  on  the  subject.  These  suggestions  are  made 
on  the  supposition  that  the  reader  has  a  general  under- 
standing of  the  habits  and  needs  of  the  plant,  and  wishes 
to  know  how  it  may  be  utilized  as  a  forage  crop. 

Legumes.  Cowpeas  are  an  excellent  crop  for  a  sheep  or 
hog  pasture.  They  are  a  legume  rich  in  protein,  furnish- 
ing both  grain  and  forage.  They  mature  in  from  sixty  to 
a  hundred  and  twenty  days,  and  can  thus  follow  an  early- 
maturing  grain  in  many  sections  of  the  country.  There  is 
no  crop  that  will  show  as  marked  beneficial  results  to  the 
soil  in  so  short  a  time  as  cowpeas,  especially  when  turned 
under  or  pastured  down.  The  growing  of  cowpeas  on  a  com- 
pact, heavy  soil  generally  improves  the  physical  condition 
most  remarkably,  making  it  light,  friable,  and  easily  worked. 

Ways  of  planting  cowpeas.  There  are  a  number  of  ways 
in  which  cowpeas  may  be  planted,  but  from  all  standpoints 
except  labor  the  following  methods  should  be  followed. 
As  soon  as  the  ground  becomes  warm  in  the  spring  and 
the  weather  is  well  settled,  —  from  the  middle  to  the  latter 
part  of  May  in  the  latitude  of  central  Missouri,  —  drill  on  a 
well-prepared  seed  bed  from  twenty  to  sixty  pounds  of  seed 
per  acre.  If  a  grain  drill  is  used,  from  forty -five  to  sixty 
pounds  will  be  needed,  which  will  plant  them  so  close  that 
they  cannot  be  cultivated,  and  not  very  many  pods  will  form. 
Where  a  fairly  good  proportion  of  seed  and  forage  is  de- 
sired, either  drill  with  a  corn  planter,  in  rows  of  regulation 
width,  about  twenty  pounds  per  acre,  or  double-row  with  a 
planter  from  thirty  to  forty-five  pounds  of  seed  per  acre. 
In  either  case  it  will  be  necessary  to  cultivate  them,  but 
ordinarily  they  do  not  need  attention  until  most  of  the 
corn  cultivating  is  over. 


87 


88  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Use  of  hurdles  in  pasturing.  The  peas  are  ready  to  turn 
onto  as  soon  as  the  first  pods  are  well  formed,  but  a  better 
guide  is  to  start  pasturing  them  sufficiently  early  so  that 
they  will  be  consumed  before  frost.  It  is  advisable  to  use 
hurdles  or  temporary  fencing  in  order  to  keep  the  stock 
from  roaming  over  the  whole  field.  These  hurdles  may  be 
moved  forward  every  few  days  as  the  stock  grazes  down 
the  new  portions.  Do  not  force  fattening  sheep  to  graze 
one  portion  clean  before  they  are  given  a  fresh  allowance, 
for  they  will  clean  up  each  portion  by  working  back  over  it 
day  by  day,  but  they  must  be  allowed  to  do  so  from  choice 
and  not  from  compulsion.  An  acre  of  peas  properly  handled 
should  make  from  fifteen  to  twenty  pounds  of  gain  on  from 
ten  to  fifteen  lambs,  or  about  two  hundred  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  of  mutton  per  acre.  Hog  raisers  that  pas- 
ture down  peas  say  that  an  acre  will  feed  five  hogs  forty- 
five  to  sixty  days,  making  from  one  to  two  pounds  of  gain 
per  day,  depending  on  the  age  of  the  hog,  or  from  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  three  hundred  pounds  of  pork  per  acre. 
Some  of  the  best  varieties  of  cowpeas  for  sheep  pasturing, 
and  those  that  are  also  adapted  to  the  middle  latitudes, 
are  the  Blacks,  Red  Ripper,  Groit,  Whippoorwill,  and  New 
Era.  The  last  named  matures  very  early. 

Soy  beans.  The  day  will  come  when  the  growth  of  soy 
beans  will  be  greatly  extended,  for  it  is  a  most  excellent 
legume  for  producing  large  amounts  of  highly  nitrogenous 
seed.  As  a  forage  crop  for  hogs  it  will  undoubtedly  rank 
above  cowpeas  wherever  it  will  make  an  equally  successful 
growth.  It  thrives  better  in  the  northern  latitudes,  while 
cowpeas  are  a  southern  plant.  Stock  farmers  should  give 
more  attention  to  the  matter  of  home  production  of  protein, 
and  the  soy  bean  is  the  plant  that  will  solve  the  problem 


GROWING  FEED  FOR  FATTENING  SHEEP      89 

where  it  will  yield  from  fifteen  to  twenty  bushels  of  seed 
per  acre. 

Field  peas.  Field  peas,  frequently  called  Canada  peas, 
are  adapted  to  the  more  northern  latitudes  in  the  corn  belt 
and  to  the  cool  regions  of  the  West.  In  the  San  Luis  valley 
in  Colorado,  pea-fed  lambs  reach  the  height  of  perfection. 
This  region  has  marketed  for  some  time  what  is  known  as 
the  Colorado  pea-fed  lamb,  which  as  a  class  comes  as  near 
topping  the  market  as  any  lamb  that  is  sold. 

The  cultural  methods  necessary  for  the  growth  of  field 
peas  are  similar  to  those  employed  with  cowpeas  except 
that  they  should  be  planted  earlier.  They  are  a  legume 
and  thus  tend  to  build  up  the  nitrogen  content  of  the  soil. 
They  yield  in  seed  from  twenty  to  thirty  bushels  per  acre, 
and  it  is  figured  that  an  acre  supporting  a  good  growth  of 
peas  will  fatten  from  ten  to  fifteen  lambs,  making  from 
two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  pounds  of  mutton. 
Methods  of  pasturing  and  handling  the  sheep  are  not  unlike 
those  used  in  the  feeding  of  cowpeas,  and  general  directions 
for  one  serve  very  well  for  the  other. 

GROWING  THE  CROPS  FOR  SYSTEM  III,  OR  THE  PAS- 
TURING DOWN  OF  CORN  WITH  HAY  OR  GREEN  FEED 
FOR  ROUGHNESS 

How  to  secure  roughness.  When  sheep  are  run  in  the 
cornfield  for  the  purpose  of  pasturing  out  the  grain  it  is 
essential  to  furnish  some  roughness  other  than  what  they 
can  gather  from  the  corn  blades  and  weeds.  Under  these 
conditions  roughness  is  generally  supplied  in  the  form  of 
rape  or  cowpeas  sown  in  the  corn,  alfalfa  or  blue-grass 
pasture,  or  hay  fed  in  racks  in  the  field.  Directions  for 


90  SHEEP  FEEDING 

sowing  cowpeas  and  rape  in  the  corn  are  given  earlier 
in  this  chapter. 

Western  sheep  in  cornfields.  When  it  is  intended  to  have 
the  sheep  utilize  the  corn  and  forage  during  the  same  period, 
it  is  essential  to  start  them  on  corn  as  soon  as  possible,  for 
otherwise  they  will  pasture  out  the  undergrowth  before  they 
start  on  the  grain.  Wethers,  yearlings,  and  in  some  cases 
a  well-matured  class  of  lambs  are  best  adapted  to  corn- 
field grazing.  They  should  be  started  slowly  and  given  a 
taste  of  corn  as  soon  as  practicable.  If  they  take  to  the  corn 
too  rapidly,  it  is  best  to  leave  them  in  the  fields  only  a  short 
time  each  day,  the  time  being  increased  gradually  until  they 
are  on  full  feed,  when  they  can  be  given  free  access  to  the 
fields  and  they  will  then  gather  for  themselves  the  proper 
balance  between  corn  and  forage  ;  provided,  of  course,  there 
is  a  sufficiency  of  both.  Rape  is  more  satisfactory  than  cow- 
peas  when  used  in  this  way,  for  it  is  available  as  a  feed  over 
a  much  longer  period. 

Amount  of  corn  necessary  to  fatten  a  sheep.  It  is  generally 
estimated  that  it  takes  from  two  to  four  bushels  of  corn  to 
fatten  a  sheep  in  a  cornfiejd,  the  latter  amount  being  re- 
quired for  a  wether,  but  a  farmer  in  Iowa  says :  "  I  fat- 
tened fifteen  hundred  sheep,  yearlings  and  wethers,  in  a 
cornfield  that  contained  a  good  growth  of  rape,  sown  at 
laying-by  time  at  the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  pounds  per 
acre,  and  they  ate  only  about  fifteen  hundred  bushels  of 
corn.  I  consider  that  the  rape  saved  at  least  two  bushels 
of  corn  per  head." 

A  catch  crop  as  a  saving  of  corn.  A  central  Missouri 
farmer  has  the  following  to  say  about  a  bunch  of  Mexican 
yearlings:  ''One  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-two 
yearlings  reached  my  farm  the  middle  of  November  weighing 


GROWING  FEED  FOR  FATTENING  SHEEP   91 

seventy-four  pounds.  In  fifty-three  days  they  were  in  St. 
Louis  weighing  eighty-seven  pounds,  selling  on  a  margin 
of  one  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents.  They  ate  the  corn 
out  of  a  thirty-acre  field,  which  yielded  fifty  bushels  per 
acre,  and  had  rape  sown  in  ten  acres  of  it;  they  also 


THE  HEAD  OP  A  YEARLING  RAM 

Showing  type,  strength,  and  masculinity,  —  important  characteristics  for  a 
successful  sire.    (Photograph  by  J.  V.  Henley) 

had  access  to  a  small  meadow."  From  this  we  can  see 
that  these  sheep  made  thirteen  pounds  of  gain  on  one 
bushel  of  corn  and  the  roughness  in  a  small  meadow  and 
ten  acres  of  rape  in  the  corn.  These  examples  show  the 
value  of  furnishing  roughness  to  cornfield-fed  sheep  in 
the  form  of  rape. 


92  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Alfalfa  profitably  utilized.  Alfalfa  is  a  crop  that  requires 
very  particular  cultural  methods,  and  in  this  brief  discussion 
it  does  not  seem  advisable  to  give  detailed  directions  for  its 
growth  and  care.  Suffice  to  say  that  it  may  be  sown  either 
in  the  spring  or  fall,  seeding  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  pounds 
per  acre  on  a  very  finely  prepared  seedbed.  The  soil  must 
be  sweet  and  well  drained  and  contain  a  fairly  good  supply 
of  humus.  It  is  not  wise  to  remove  the  hay  or  to  use  the  first 
year's  growth  for  pasture.  It  is  generally  supposed  that 
alfalfa  pasture  will  cause  bloat  in  cattle  and  sheep.  This 
idea  is  true  if  stock  is  allowed  free  access  to  the  crop  when  it 
is  green  and  succulent,  and  is  not  accustomed  to  a  full  feed 
of  the  pasture  very  gradually.  If  allowed  to,  sheep  will  eat 
alfalfa  down  to  the  crowns  and  do  it  permanent  injury. 

A  Kansas  farmer  who  feeds  extensively  says  :  "I  use  the 
late  growth  of  alfalfa  for  sheep  pasture  and  never  have  any 
bad  results.  I  use  extreme  care  in  turning  sheep  on,  leav- 
ing them  only  a  short  time  at  first  and  increasing  very 
slowly.  I  have  neighbors  who  have  had  bad  results  with 
pasturing  alfalfa,  but  I  think  it  is  due  to  carelessness  in 
turning  on.  Alfalfa  pasture,  in  conjunction  with  cornfield 
feeding,  gives  me  the  best  results  I  ever  get.  I  fill  my  sheep 
on  hay  when  I  first  get  them  home,  then  gradually  work 
them  onto  a  full  allowance  of  pasture,  and  from  this  to  the 
cornfield.  The  corn  and  alfalfa  fields  are  so  arranged  that 
the  sheep  have  free  access  to  both  when  on  full  feed.  I  never 
get  bad  results  with  this  method  when  I  make  the  different 
changes  slowly." 

Blue  grass  and  corn.  It  is  a  very  common  practice  to  use 
a  blue-grass  pasture  for  roughness  in  conjunction  with  corn- 
field feeding  of  sheep.  This  practice  is  wholly  commendable, 
and  results  are  generally  satisfactory  provided  there  is  an 


93 


94  SHEEP  FEEDING 

abundance  of  grass.  Pastures  that  are  not  to  be  used  in  this 
way  should  have  the  entire  fall  growth  left  for  the  sheep, 
and  in  some  cases  the  spring  growth  as  well.  It  is  claimed 
by  many  that  horses  and  cattle  should  be  pastured  with 
sheep,  for  it  is  said  that  the  large  animals  eat  the  coarser 
grasses  and  leave  the  young  and  tender  for  the  sheep. 
When  blue-grass  pastures  furnish  the  roughness  for  corn- 
field feeding,  the  sheep  should  be  given  free  access  to  the 
pastures  at  all  times.  In  some  cases  old  meadows  will  be 
quite  as  satisfactory  as  blue  grass. 

What  has  been  said  here  in  reference  to  pastures  applies 
equally  well  to  the  handling  of  pastures  in  conjunction  with 
Feeding  System  IV,  where  corn  is  fed  on  blue  grass. 

When  hay  is  to  be  fed.  It  is  a  common  mistake  among 
beginners  to  think  that  the  sheep  can  gather  all  the  rough- 
ness they  need,  as  well  as  the  grain,  from  the  ordinary 
cornfield.  If  it  seems  impracticable  to  balance  the  ration 
with  roughness  in  any  of  the  ways  previously  mentioned  in 
this  chapter,  then  hay  must  be  supplied.  Alfalfa  or  clover  is 
first  choice  at  all  times  and  almost  essential  with  lambs. 
Older  sheep  can  handle  cane,  prairie,  or  timothy  hay,  but 
these  feeds  should  not  be  used  unless  no  better  are  avail- 
able. From  one  to  one  and  one-half  pounds  of  roughness 
per  pound  of  grain  is  about  the  proportion  in  which  sheep 
consume  feed. 

Instead  of  giving  the  theoretical  benefits  to  the  land  from 
pasturing  down  corn,  let  us  see  what  those  who  have  had 
some  experience  Avith  the  practice  say. 

Results  following  cornfield  feeding  of  sheep.  An  Iowa 
farmer  reports :  "I  have  pastured  down  the  corn  in  one  of 
my  fields  for  three  years,  and  this  year  the  yield  is  sixty- 
seven  bushels  per  acre,  which  is  a  good  deal  above  my  old 


95 


96  SHEEP  FEEDING 

average."  Another  says :  "  I  bought  this  farm  six  years 
ago  and  my  practice  has  been  to  pasture  down  most 
of  my  corn  each  year  with  sheep.  My  first  yields  were 
about  forty  bushels  per  acre ;  now  I  average  from  fifty  to 
sixty.  My  neighbors  still  get  about  the  same  yields  that  I 
used  to." 

A  Kansas  farmer  says :  "  I  have  cornfields  where  I  have 
pastured  down  my  corn  with  sheep  for  eight  years.  When 
I  started  this  practice  I  received  from  thirty-five  to  forty 
bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  and  now  my  average  on  the  same 
land  runs  from  sixty-five  to  eighty-five.  The  fields  that  have 
not  been  pasture  still  yield  around  forty  bushels  per  acre. 
One  of  the  poorest  farms  in  our  neighborhood  has  been 
made  one  of  the  most  productive  by  pasturing  down  corn 
with  sheep." 

A  Missouri  farmer  gives  his  experience  as  follows :  "  Part 
of  my  farm  is  very  old,  and  I  have  one  field  that  I  know  has 
been  cropped  for  thirty-five  years.  At  110  time  previous  to 
five  years  ago,  when  I  started  pasturing  my  corn  down  with 
sheep,  could  I  get  more  than  thirty-five  bushels  of  corn  per 
acre  on  this  land,  but  since  that  time  I  have  harvested  sixty- 
five  bushels  per  acre  from  it.  I  have  had  yields  increased 
from  five  to  ten  bushels  per  acre  in  a  single  year  following 
the  pasturing  down  of  corn  with  sheep."  One  who  has  used 
catch  crops,  corn,  and  sheep  for  a  number  of  years  says: 
"  I  settled  on  this  farm,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  it, 
in  1892,  paying  seventeen  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,  a 
price  that  my  neighbors  thought  exorbitant.  The  first  crops 
that  I  planted  did  not  grow  high  enough  to  cut  with  a  binder, 
so  I  thought  my  first  step  was  to  improve  the  soil ;  conse- 
quently I  seeded  down  my  fields  and  fed  cattle  on  them.  In 
1902  I  tried  another  crop,  corn,  in  which  I  broadcasted 


GROWING  FEED  FOE  FATTENING  SHEEP      97 

ahead  of  the  last  cultivation,  cowpeas  and  rape.  In  the  fall 
I  bought  Western  lambs  and  fattened  them  in  the  fields. 
Ever  since  that  time  I  have  been  continuing  the  practice, 
and  I  believe  it  is  largely  responsible  for  what  I  have 
at  present.  There  are  now  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  my  farm,  worth  fifty  dollars  per  acre.  On  fields  that 


BOYS  AND  LAMBS  A  GOOD  COMBINATION 
The  children  can  fill  an  important  place  in  the  raising  of  orphan  lambs 

once  produced  little  more  than  nothing  I  have  since  raised 
from  sixty  to  ninety  bushels  of  corn  that  was  good  enough 
to  win  at  the  state  corn  show,  and  the  annual  produc- 
tion of  my  farm  amounts  to  about  five  thousand  dollars." 
Pasturing  of  crops  a  fundamental  practice.  The  foregoing 
statements  tell  in  as  convincing  a  way  as  possible  what  some 
of  the  actual  results  from  grazing  down  corn  have  been. 
Many  other  farmers  have  testified  in  as  strong  terms  as  those 


98  SHEEP  FEEDING 

quoted  regarding  the  remarkable  results  following  these 
methods.  It  is  quite  universally  conceded  by  leading  agri- 
cultural men  of  to-day  that  the  systematic  pasturing  of 
crops  is  steadily  increasing  among  our  most  progressive 
farmers.  There  is  no  one  farm  practice  that  strikes  as 
directly  at  the  very  heart  of  the  solution  of  two  of  our 
most  important  farm  problems  as  does  this  practice.  It  at 
once  relieves  the  farm-labor  situation  and  looks  surely  to 
the  maintaining  of  soil  fertility.  It  goes  farther ;  it  supplies 
what  has  been  so  aptly  called  the  soil  key,  humus.  Some 
soil  chemists  tell  us  that  soil  fertility  can  be  kept  up  by 
the  use  of  commercial  fertilizers,  and  the  humus  supply 
maintained  by  turning  under  green  crops.  Dean  F.  B. 
Mumford,  of  the  Missouri  Agricultural  College,  has  said, 
"  I  consider  it  an  economic  crime  to  plow  under  crops  to 
maintain  soil  humus  and  fertility."  His  point  is  well  taken, 
for,  when  crops  are  properly  pastured,  the  needs  of  the  soil 
are  amply  considered,  and  in  most  cases  there  is  realized,  in 
addition,  a  direct  financial  return.  The  principles  at  the 
base  of  the  system  are  sound ;  the  practice  is  profitable,  it 
is  permanent,  it  builds  for  posterity,  and  it  gives  promise 
of  a  profitable  agriculture  for  our  boys  and  girls. 


CHAPTER  VI 
MARKETING  THE  FAT  SHEEP 

We  have  thus  far  given  our  attention  to  the  purchase 
and  feeding  of  the  sheep.  We  have  found  that  success  does 
not  depend  upon  any  one  point,  but  upon  the  doing  of  many 
essentials  in  the  best,  most  careful,  and  painstaking  way. 
We  now  come  to  a  phase  of  the  work  that,  as  a  rule,  few 
know  little  about.  The  marketing  of  fat  sheep  is  of  no 
less  importance  than  the  finishing  of  them,  so  it  is  well 
that  we  weigh  carefully  the  words  of  those  who  have  done 
much  in  solving  these  problems. 

Profitable  marketing.  A  large  number  of  men  who  are 
in  a  position  to  answer  the  question,  What  are  some  of 
the  most  common  mistakes  made  by  inexperienced  sheep 
feeders,  have  told  me  that  one  of  the  most  common  mis- 
takes is  the  failure  to  market  the  sheep  fat.  The  truth 
of  this  statement  is  only  too  apparent  to  those  who  are 
in  a  position  to  observe ;  but  it  would  be  folly  to  contend 
that  every  fed  sheep  that  goes  to  market  in  a  condition 
that  will  permit  another  feed,  is  marketed  by  the  first  feeder 
at  a  loss,  for  this  is  not  always  the  case.  Many  Middle 
West  farmers  buy  their  sheep  early  in  the  fall,  run  them  in 
the  stubble  fields,  in  the  cornfields,  and  on  the  aftermath 
of  their  meadows,  make  from  five  to  twelve  pounds  of  gain 
in  about  sixty  days,  and  then  ship  to  market  with  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  per  head  profit.  Such  a  farmer  fig- 
ures that  his  sheep  have  consumed  nothing  but  waste,  and 
all  that  he  receives  for  them  over  the  actual  cash  outlay  is 

99 


100  SHEEP  FEEDING 

clear  profit,  so  he  is  content  to  market  them  "  just  warmed 
up,"  and  to  let  some  other  feeder  add  the  finish.  Both  par- 
ties to  such  a  deal  make  money  and  both  are  satisfied.  How- 
ever, if  there  is  still  a  margin  of  profit  on  the  sheep  when 
the  first  feeder  lets  them  go,  —  especially  one  large  enough 
to  justify  all  the  necessary  freight  bills  and  the  buying  and 
selling  commissions,  —  why  cannot  the  first  man  do  the 
finishing  ?  He  may  answer :  I  do  not  know  how  to  finish 
sheep.  I  have  no  shelter  for  late  fall  and  winter  feeding, 
and  it  is  essential  in  my  part  of  the  country.  I  feed  cattle 
and  hogs  with  the  corn  I  grow  and  do  not  have  enough  for 
both.  All  very  good  reasons,  but  can  we  not  answer:  If 
feeding  and  finishing  sheep  is  a  profitable  business,  cannot 
the  one  who  grows  the  feed  well  afford  to  learn  the  art  ? 
We  learn  by  doing.  If  the  buyer  of  half -finished  sheep  finds 
it  profitable  to  build  large  barns  in  which  to  feed,  cannot  the 
Middle  West  farmer  do  it  with  equal  profit  ?  The  experi- 
ence of  thousands  of  successful  feeders  would  indicate  that 
he  can.  If  sheep  will  produce  on  a  given  amount  of  hay 
and  grain  more  pounds  of  gain  than  will  cattle,  —  and  it 
is  a  proved  fact  that  they  will,  —  and  the  feeding  margin 
averages  about  the  same  for  sheep  as  for  cattle,  why  not 
feed  the  corn  to  sheep  instead  of  to  cattle  ?  Cattle  are 
seldom  fed  without  hogs  to  follow,  and  from  the  latter  the 
profit  most  generally  comes.  No  one  ever  heard  a  sheep 
feeder  say  that  the  only  money  he  made  from  feeding  sheep 
came  from  hogs ;  for  it  is  not  necessary  to  look  to  another 
animal  for  the  profits  on  the  grain  that  sheep  consume. 

The  foregoing  applies  to  the  man  who  markets  half- 
finished  sheep,  knows  it,  and  still  argues  that  he  cannot 
afford  to  do  otherwise.  For  the  one  who  wishes  to  make 
the  profits  of  both  the  starter  and  the  finisher,  and  for  the 


MAEKETING  TH£  'FAT  SHEEP : ^  ^ 

one  who  does  not  wish  to  acknowledge,  by  turning  the  task 
over  to  some  one  else,  his  inability  to  complete  a  task  that 
he  has  begun,  another  word  may  be  added. 

Ways  of  determining  condition.  Unquestionably  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  a  person  not  used  to  handling  sheep  to  tell  when 
they  are  fat.  It  is  probable  that  the  same  person  would 
have  no  trouble  at  all  in  picking  out  a  finished  hog  or  steer, 
but  the  degree  of  fatness  of  a  sheep  cannot  be  told  by  sight 
alone,  for  a  coating  of  wool  is  between  what  can  be  seen 
and  what  really  exists.  The  market  buyers  seem  to  satisfy 
themselves,  regarding  the  finish  of  a  sheep,  by  close  obser- 
vation and  by  placing  the  hands  on  the  sheep's  back  just 
over  the  loin.  A  sharp  and  prominent  backbone  will  not  be 
favored  by  the  killers'  bids.  In  determining  whether  sheep 
are  fat  enough  to  ship  or  not,  observe  some  of  the  following 
points :  Note  the  wool  along  the  backbone ;  in  a  fat  sheep 
it  does  not  split  or  part,  but  lies  compact,  as  it  does  on  the 
sides.  The  general  form  should  appear  well-rounded  and 
symmetrical,  without  any  prominent  projections  about  the 
hips  or  shoulders.  With  the  palm  of  the  hand  feel  along 
the  backbone,  beginning  at  the  shoulder  and  passing  to 
the  tail  head  or  dock.  As  the  hand  rests  on  the  sheep's 
back  move  it  from  side  to  side,  which  will  aid  in  feeling 
the  amount  of  flesh  over  the  tops  of  the  ribs.  Width  and 
thickness  of  loin  can  be  determined  next,  and  then  one 
passage  of  the  hand  on  the  side  over  the  ribs  and  a  grasp 
of  the  leg  will  generally  be  sufficient  to  give  a  pretty  good 
idea  of  the  amount  of  flesh  a  sheep  carries.  Of  course  it 
would  be  impossible  to  handle  each  individual  in  a  large 
band  in  this  way,  but  a  few  that  are  representative  of  the 
flock  can  be  carefully  examined  and  a  pretty  good  idea  of 
the  whole  band  will  be  obtained.  As  one  becomes  more 


a    S 


?  s 

a     $ 


102 


MARKETING  THE  EAT  SHEEP  108 

expert  less  handling  is  necessary.  If  possible,  handle  some 
real  fat  sheep  sometime  and  retain  the  impression  received 
from  them  in  mind  and  fingers,  and  then  the  comparisons 
may  be  made  when  the  occasion  arrives. 

The  proper  weight  for  fat  lambs.  If  there  is  an  ideal  weight 
for  finished  lambs,  except  hothouse  lambs,  that  weight  is 
between  seventy-five  and  eighty  pounds,  and  the  nearer  the 
feeder  brings  his  fat  lambs  to  this  weight,  the  nearer  he  will 
come  to  topping  the  market.  If  they  weigh  a  little  less  than 
this  they  will  generally  sell  better  than  equally  fat  ones 
that  run  much  over  it.  When  buying  feeder  lambs  in  the 
fall,  figure  on  the  length  of  feed  and  the  pounds  of  gain 
that  you  wish  to  make,  subtract  the  pounds  of  gain  from 
seventy -five  or  eighty,  and  let  the  remaining  figure  be  your 
guide  in  selecting  the  weight  of  your  feeders. 

Weight  of  yearlings.  The  nearer  a  fat  yearling  comes  to 
the  ideal  lamb  weight,  the  nearer  the  top  of  the  market  he 
will  sell.  It  is  not  always  possible  to  buy  yearlings  light 
enough. to  finish  at  seventy-five  to  eighty  pounds,  but  it 
may  be  remembered  that  they  will  be  better  sellers  if  they 
reach  the  market  fat  at  a  weight  less,  rather  than  more,  than 
eighty-five  pounds ;  for,  as  has  been  explained,  a  light  year- 
ling has  a  chance  of  becoming  a  lamb  after  he  reaches  the 
hooks  of  some  of  the  packers. 

Wethers.  Wethers  seldom  if  ever  compete  with  lambs,  so 
condition  is  more  important  than  final  weight  in  this  class. 
The  best  and  heaviest  wethers  fill  the  export  trade,  and 
weigh  from  a  hundred  and  ten  to  a  hundred  and  twenty-five 
pounds.  A  very  fat  wether  will  outsell  a  fat  one,  but  it  is 
questionable  if  the  difference  in  price  will  repay  the  cost  of  the 
extra  finish.  This,  however,  depends  somewhat  on  such  vary- 
ing factors  as  cost  of  feed,  shipping  rates,  and  market  prices. 


104  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Suggestions  for  shipping  sheep.  When  the  sheep  are  ready 
for  market  it  is  to  the  seller's  advantage  to  have  them  pre- 
sent as  good  an  appearance  as  possible.  If  more  than  one 
carload  has  been  fed,  select  those  of  uniform  weight,  flesh, 
and  general  form  for  each  shipment.  All  tags  should  be 
clipped  from  around  the  tail,  and  the  wool  should  be  free 
from  burs  or  mud.  In  handling  the  sheep  about  the  farm, 
on  the  way  to  the  cars,  and  while  loading,  take  plenty  of 
time  and  try  to  prevent  anything  that  will  frighten  or  worry 
them.  Any  one  who  handles  feeding  sheep  can  well  afford 
to  train  a  leader,  for  a  well-trained  lead  sheep  will  do  more 
to  reduce  shrinks  and  facilitate  the  handling  of  the  feeders 
about  the  yards,  scales,  and  cars  than  a  good  sheep  dog 
or  an  extra  man.  If  difficulty  is  experienced  in  driving  a 
large  number  of  sheep  to  and  from  the  farm,  it  can  gen- 
erally be  made  easier  by  cutting  out  a  small  bunch  and 
driving  them  ahead,  and  then  the  larger  band  will  follow 
without  any  trouble. 

Do  not  load  cars  too  heavily ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  fill 
each  one  full  enough  to  prevent  the  sheep  from  being  seri- 
ously bumped  or  jammed  about  by  the  jerking  of  the  train. 
There  is  little  excuse  for  a  heavy  death  loss  on  moderately 
long  shipments  in  properly  loaded  cars. 

Shrinkage  during  transportation.  Shrinkage  on  fat  sheep 
during  transportation  from  the  farm  to  market  runs  from 
four  to  eight  pounds.  A  bad  rain  or  snow  storm,  unusual 
delays,  long  shipments,  poor  watering  facilities,  and  very 
fat  sheep  all  tend  to  increase  the  amount  of  shrinkage,  and 
in  cases  where  two  or  more  of  these  factors  are  combined 
it  is  possible  that  the  pounds  of  shrinkage  will  be  more  than 
the  amount  mentioned.  On  the  other  hand  a  very  short 
shipping  distance  under  very  good  conditions  may  result  in 


105 


106  SHEEP  FEEDING 

less  than  four  pounds  of  shrinkage.  One  thing  that  makes 
Western  grass  sheep  so  popular  with  the  killers  is  the  fact 
that  they  are  well  shrunk  out  when  they  reach  the  mar- 
kets and  dress  a  high  per  cent. 

The  sheep  buyer.  If  possible,  accompany  your  sheep  to 
market  and  know  before  you  start  what  they  will  have  cost 
you  when  laid  down  ready  for  sale.  This  gives  an  intelligent 
and  sound  basis  on  which  to  accept  or  reject  bids.  It  is  a  good 
plan  to  keep  in  touch  with  your  commission  firm  and  heed 
their  advice  as  far  as  possible  in  regard  to  the  exact  time  of 
shipments  and  other  suggestions  they  may  make.  The  feeder 
who  thinks  he  can  temporarily  "  fix  "  his  sheep,  or  claim  for 
them  something  they  are  not,  and  fool  the  old  experienced 
buyers  on  our  large  markets,  is  sadly  mistaken.  Every  sheep 
buyer  for  the  packers  has  the  records  of  his  purchases  (exact 
weight,  per  cent  dressed,  quality  of  mutton,  and  any  other 
details  that  might  be  of  value)  sent  to  him  each  day.  He 
studies  and  compares  these  records  until  he  knows  better 
than  the  feeder  the  real  value  of  every  load  on  which  he 
bids.  Such  an  experience,  extended  over  a  good  many  years, 
prepares  a  man  to  meet  pretty  severe  competition;  and  the 
feeder  who  thinks,  for  instance,  that  the  burs  in  his  sheep 
are  there  to  his  advantage  (for  he  may  argue,  "  They  weigh 
just  that  much  more  and  burs  do  not  hurt  the  mutton  ")  will 
do  well  to  remember  that  the  man  who  bids  on  them  has, 
in  all  probability,  bought  thousands  of  burry  sheep  and 
knows  to  a  nicety  what  actual  deduction  must  be  made,  and, 
after  surveying  the  conditions,  also  figures  about  how  much 
extra  he  can  deduct  on  the  mere  fact  that  the  sheep  are 
burry  at  all.  This  same  principle  works  when  he  finds  a 
few  taggy  culls  or  heavy-pelted  sheep  mixed  with  an  other- 
wise good  shipment.  When  a  buyer  demands  a  cut  before 


MARKETING  THE  FAT  SHEEP  107 

he  will  buy,  he  figures  who  is  coming  out  ahead  before  he 
ever  makes  a  bid  on  tops  and  ends.  For  instance,  you  are 
on  the  market  with  three  hundred  eighty-five-pound  lambs, 
totaling  twenty-five  thousand  five  hundred  pounds,  and  are 
offered  a  flat  bid  of  seven  cents,  which  you  refuse.  Then 
comes  a  bid  of  eight  cents  for  the  one  hundred  tops  and 
six  and  a  quarter  cents  for  the  ends.  If  the  tops  weigh 
nine  thousand  pounds,  they  bring  seven  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars,  the  others  one  thousand  and  thirty-one  dollars  and 
twenty-five  cents,  or  a  total  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-one  dollars,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  the  buyer 
has  figured,  before  he  makes  the  offer,  that  if  you  accept 
he  will  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  thirty  dollars  to  the  good. 
Even  six  and  three-quarter  cents  for  the  ends  and  eight  for 
the  tops  is  better  from  the  buyer's  standpoint  than  seven 
and  a  quarter  flat,  and  it  is  only  forty-eight  dollars  and 
seventy-five  cents  more  than  the  original  seven-cent  bid. 

Points  to  watch  while  on  the  market.  Another  point  that 
sometimes  confronts  a  man  while  on  the  market  occurs 
as  follows :  He  arrives  a  little  late  in  the  day  with  one 
thousand  head  of  lambs.  Bidders  are  not  very  active,  and  he 
thinks  he  can  afford  to  hold  over  until  the  next  day  rather 
than  take  the  bid  offered.  Every  buyer  that  enters  his  pens 
has  to  feel  his  sheep,  walk  among  them,  and  stir  them  up ; 
and  in  some  cases  the  same  buyer  makes  three  or  four 
visits,  the  last  one  or  two  being  made  in  the  afternoon  while 
the  owner  is  uptown,  and  each  time  it  seems  necessary  to 
thoroughly  arouse  every  sheep.  The  next  morning  prices 
are  no  better  and  the  feeder  feels  satisfied  with  the  original 
bid.  If  all  the  careful  examining  of  the  day  before  and 
the  extra  time  in  the  pens  has  caused  only  half  a  pound  of 
shrinkage  per  head,  it  amounts  to  five  hundred  pounds  on 


108  SHEEP  FEEDING 

the  whole  band,  enough  at  seven  cents  a  pound  to  pay  the 
buyer  for  his  trouble. 

Experience  necessary  for  successful  marketing.  These  little 
points  are  mentioned  simply  to  put  the  feeder  on  his  guard 
and  to  set  him  thinking.  Do  not  imagine  from  this  that  all 
the  market  buyers  employ  questionable  means  in  purchasing 
sheep,  but  do  think  and  realize  that  you  are  dealing  with  a 
class  of  men  who,  in  all  probability,  know  more  about  buy- 
ing sheep  on  the  market  than  you  do  about  selling,  and 
the  chances  are  that  any  means  of  deception  you  may  try 
will  react  to  your  own  harm.  There  are  tricks  in  every 
trade,  and  market  circles  are  not  without  their  share. 


CHAPTER  VII 

RAISING  LAMBS  FOR  AN  EARLY  MARKET 

Hints  to  the  sheep  raiser.  This  book  is  intended  primarily 
for  the  feeder  of  sheep,  and  not  for  the  raiser  or  breeder ; 
but  there  is  a  phase  of  flock  management  that  is  of  so  much 
importance  to  the  corn-belt  farmer  that  it  seems  to  be  worthy 
of  a  place  here.  It  is  not  a  new  idea,  for  it  is  practiced  in 
rather  a  desultory  way  in  many  places;  but  the  following 
suggestions,  which  are  based  on  successful  practices,  are 
given  for  the  betterment  of  the  sheep-breeding  interests  in 
the  Middle  West.  That  there  is  need  for  such  information 
is  well  known  ;  in  fact  the  sentiments  of  many  breeders  may 
be  heard  in  the  words  of  one  of  the  best-informed  sheep 
men  in  this  country  when  he  says :  "  The  farmer  who  for- 
merly raised  lambs  from  native  ewes  now  buys  Western 
ewes,  and  finds  that  after  a  crop  or  two  of  lambs  his  West- 
ern ewes  are  as  badly  diseased  as  natives  (eighty  per  cent 
of  the  native  sheep  are  diseased).  There  must  be  something 
done ;  I  believe  the  only  thing  is  to  sow  forage  crops  every 
spring,  and  pasture  them  and  not  use  old  pastures.  No  class 
of  men  needs  government  assistance  so  much  as  native-sheep 
raisers.  There  should  be  something  done  to  help  them  get 
rid  of  the  various  worm  diseases.  I  think  every  sheep  owner 
should  be  advised  not  to  use  the  same  pastures  two  seasons 
in  succession." 

The  early-lamb  business  in  the  South.  In  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  and  Kentucky  the  systematic  practice  of  raising 
lambs  for  an  early  market  has  reached  a  high  development. 

109 


THE  FIRST  LESSON 

Patience  and  perseverance  will  finally  win,  though  the  first  lessons  have  to  be 
forced  upon  the  unwilling  youngster 


110 


RAISING  LAMBS  FOE  AN  EAELY  MARKET    111 

Of  course  there  are  farmers  here  and  there  all  over  the 
Middle  West  that  breed  their  ewes  for  early  lambs,  but 
the  practice  is  not  general  or  as  well  organized  in  any  other 
section  of  the  country  as  it  is  in  the  states  mentioned.  Let 
us  notice  the  conditions,  stock,  and  methods  of  these  central 


SOON   THE   LAMBS   LEARN  THE   ADVANTAGES   OF   THE   LITTLE   EXTRAS 

AND  EAGERLY  SEEK  THE  WARM  CONTENTS  OP  THE  BOTTLE  THE  WlSE 

SHEPHERD  CARRIES 

Southern  farmers,  and  see  to  what  extent  their  practices 
may  be  duplicated  elsewhere. 

Early  pasturing  possibilities.  Climatic  conditions  in  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky  are  much  milder  than  prevail  through- 
out the  greater  part  of  the  corn  belt;  but  aside  from 
comparatively  mild  winters  Middle  States  possibilities  for 
early-lamb  raising  are  as  favorable  as  those  in  the  central 
South.  Blue-grass  and  orchard-grass  pastures  are  available 


112  SHEEP  FEEDING 

from  nine  to  ten  months  of  the  year,  and  pure  spring  water 
is  generally  abundant.  Stomach  worms  and  scab  are  trou- 
blesome, and  dogs  are  considered  by  most  sheep  men  as  the 
greatest  drawback  to  the  industry. 

Inexpensive  grade  ewes  in  the  South.  The  ewes  from 
which  the  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  lambs  are  raised  aver- 
age poorer  in  breeding,  form,  quality,  condition,  and  wool 
than  the  grade  Down  ewes  owned  by  the  Middle  States 
farmers.  In  the  southern  sections  of  this  region  most  of 
the  ewes  come  from  the  mountain  district  of  Tennessee,  or 
from  Alabama  or  Georgia.  They  show  coarse-wooled  cross- 
ing, having  white  faces  and  legs  and  rather  heavy  bone,  and 
are  upstanding,  with  somewhat  slender  bodies  and  a  scanty, 
inferior  covering  of  coarse  wool.  Breeding  ewes  for  the 
northern  part  of  Kentucky  are  generally  purchased  at  the 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  or  Louisville  stockyards.  They  are,  for 
the  most  part,  the  grade  Downs  that  Middle  States  farmers 
considered  for  some  reason  unprofitable  and  sent  to  market ; 
but  these  Southern  farmers  do  remarkably  well  with  them 
for  two  or  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  they  are 
fattened  and  returned  and  a  new  flock  is  purchased. 

Southdown  rams  in  the  South.  The  great  majority  of  the 
rams  used  in  the  South  are  Southdowns.  A  Southdown 
ram  gets  a  lamb  that  will  reach  a  weight  of  from  sixty  to 
seventy -five  pounds  sooner  than  a  lamb  of  any  other  breed. 
They  are  noted  for  their  ideal  mutton  form  and  quick- 
maturing  tendencies.  The  lambs  bred  from  this  cross  have 
dark  faces  and  legs,  short,  low-down,  compact  bodies,  and 
a  medium  Down  wool  —  characteristics  which  make  them 
favorites  with  the  buyers  and  killers. 

Handling  the  flocks.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  Tennessee  or 
Kentucky  farmer  with  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land, 


RAISING  LAMBS  FOR  AN  EARLY  MARKET    113 

or  more,  has  cleaned  out  his  old  flock  and  is  ready  to  start 
a  new  one.  During  June  or  July  he  will  purchase  from  the 
mountain  or  the  Southern  farmers  a  flock  of  about  one  hun- 
dred ewes,  —  it  is  seldom  that  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  ewes  are  kept  on  one  farm,  —  paying  from  three  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  to  five  dollars  a  head  for  them.  When  he 
gets  his  sheep  home  he  turns  them  into  the  poorest  pastures 


THE  RAM  is  HALF  THE  FLOCK 

he  has  until  August ;  then  they  are  given  the  best  grazing 
available,  and  the  rams  are  turned  in  with  them.  This  is 
called  "  flushing,"  and  it  is  supposed  to  start  the  ewes  to 
rutting  and  increase  the  per  cent  of  lambs  that  will  be 
dropped  the  next  spring.  The  best  flock  managers  leave 
the  rams  with  the  ewes  about  two  months. 

From  August  to  January  the  ewes  are  kept  on  blue- 
grass  pasture,  and  in  a  good  many  years  it  is  not  necessary 


S  I 

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114 


RAISING  LAMBS  FOR  AN  EARLY  MARKET    115 

to  furnish  any  grain  during  this  time.  However,  it  is  safest 
to  count  on  feeding  the  equivalent  of  from  one  to  three 
pecks  of  corn  per  head  during  this  time ;  some  figure  that 
the  grain  costs  one  dollar  per  head  per  year.  Frequently 
no  shelter  is  needed,  but  it  is  advisable  to  have  an  open 
shed  to  which  the  ewes  can  go  on  stormy  days,  especially 


JUST  A  FEW  HOURS  OLD  AND  WEIGHS  TWELVE  POUNDS 

during  the  lambing  season.  The  first  lambs  are  dropped 
about  the  first  of  January,  and  the  last  arrive  not  later 
than  the  end  of  March.  On  all  days  that  are  not  too  wet 
or  snowy  during  lambing  time  the  ewes  should  be  left  in 
the  pasture. 

During  the  early  fall  the  best  flock  masters  prepare  a 
piece  of  ground  for  some  winter  grain,  as  oats,  barley,  wheat, 
or  rye  (the  last  two  being  the  best),  and  by  January,  when 


116 


SHEEP  FEEDING 


it  becomes  necessary  to  stimulate  a  strong  flow  of  milk  in 
the  ewes,  they  are  turned  onto  it.  This  is  one  of  the  chief 
requisites  for  the  successful  raising  of  early  lambs,  and  it  is 
one  that  can  be  duplicated  by  most  of  the  farmers  of  the 
corn  belt.  One  farmer  says :  "  I  can  predict  my  success  with 


MONTH-OLD  LAMBS  OUT  or  WESTERN  EWES  BY  A  PURE-BRED  SHROP- 
SHIRE   BAM,  RAISED   UNDER   FlELD    CONDITIONS 

Their  weights,  from  left  to  right,  were  32,  35,  and  33  pounds.  The  first  one  is 
shown  on  page  115.  The  second  and  third  are  the  most  desirable  market  type 

my  lamb  crop  by  the  stand  of  winter  wheat  I  have.  There  is 
nothing  that  makes  the  ewes  give  more  milk  and  the  lambs 
grow  faster  than  wheat  or  rye  pasture  from  January  to  the 
middle  of  March."  In  March,  or  the  first  part  of  April,  the 
flock  is  turned  onto  orchard  or  blue-grass  pasture  and  left 
there  until  the  latter  part  of  May  or  early  in  June,  when 
the  lambs  are  sold. 


117 


118  SHEEP  FEEDING 

It  is  not  customary  to  castrate  or  dock  the  lambs  that  are 
sold  before  the  last  of  June.  Farmers  of  this  region  claim 
that  a  ram  lamb  will  weigh  from  three  to  five  pounds  more 
than  a  ewe  when  five  months  old.  If  castrated,  the  five- 
months-old  wether  weighs  just  about  the  same  as  the  ewe. 
Inasmuch  as  all  the  young  stock  is  sold  every  year  before 
the  last  of  June,  it  may  be  said  that  these  farmers  are 
justified  in  not  castrating  the  males,  but  it  may  be  stated 
without  question  that  it  is  unprofitable  to  leave  them  en- 
tire if  they  are  kept  until  older  than  five  months. 

Selling  the  lambs.  It  seems  hard  for  some  sheep  raisers 
to  sell  a  well-matured  grade  ewe  lamb  that  would  make  a 
fine  start  in  grading  up  a  flock,  but  when  he  considers  that 
she  will  sell  for  five  dollars  at  five  months  old  and  cannot 
be  profitably  bred  until  she  is  a  yearling,  he  sees  that  he 
cannot  afford  to  raise  her.  A  mature  ewe  that  will  raise 
one  and  maybe  two  lambs  can 'be  purchased  for  less  money 
than  the  lamb  is  worth  when  five  months  old. 

In  some  sections  the  sheep  owners  have  what  they  call  a 
Lamb-and-Wool  Club,  which  is  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
selling  sheep  products.  One  of  the  most  successful  lamb 
clubs  is  run  about  as  follows:  There  are  some  eighty -five 
members,  owning  near  two  thousand  ewes.  The  officers 
consist  of  a  president  and  secretary,  the  latter  being  ex- 
officio  chairman  of  the  executive  committee,  whose  business 
it  is  to  look  after  the  sorting  and  selling  of  the  lambs.  The 
first  Saturday  in  April  the  club  has  a  general  meeting,  at 
which  time  each  member  tells  approximately  what  number 
of  lambs  he  will  have  that  will  weigh  over  fifty-five  pounds 
on  the  day  of  shipment.  In  accordance  with  this  estimate 
the  secretary  calls  for  sealed  bids  from  all  over  the  country, 
stating  that  the  club  will  have  its  first  delivery  of  fifteen 


119 


120  SHEEP  FEEDING 

hundred  lambs  ready  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  all  to  be  of 
standard  grade  and  averaging  from  seventy  to  seventy-five 
pounds  in  weight,  with  none  lighter  than  fifty-five  pounds. 
This  number  of  lambs  for  sale  at  one  place,  all  of  a  guar- 
anteed weight  and  quality,  brings  out  bids  from  the  East, 
the  West,  and  locally.  Bidders  know  that  only  desirable 
lambs  will  be  offered  and  that  no  trick  or  dishonest  meth- 
ods will  be  used  by  the  club  to  deceive  the  buyer ;  for  the 
club  as  a  whole  stands  back  of  every  sale.  Such  conditions 
very  naturally  call  for  the  highest  prices.  The  result  gen- 
erally is  that  these  club  lambs  sell  for  from  a  cent  to  a  cent 
and  a  half  per  pound  higher  than  equally  good  lambs  that 
are  bargained  for  in  small  lots.  In  one  instance,  in  1909, 
lambs  sold  for  five  and  three-quarters  cents  not  seventy- 
five  miles  from  a  successful  lamb  club  that  received  seven 
cents.  Wool  is  sold  on  the  same  principle  as  are  lambs. 
The  executive  committee  of  the  club  grades  each  lot  that 
comes  in,  and  places  it  in  the  first,  second,  or  third  class. 
The  grading  of  the  committee  is  based  entirely  on  the 
amount  of  dirt,  burs,  and  foreign  matter  that  the  wool  car- 
ries, the  first  class  being  entirely  free  from  all  foreign  mate- 
rial. The  fact  that  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand  pounds  of 
wool  of  uniform  and  guaranteed  grades  may  be  purchased 
on  a  single  bid,  attracts  large  buyers  who  would  not  con- 
sider wool  from  that  community  if  it  had  to  be  picked  up 
a  few  pounds  here  and  there. 

A  summary  of  the  early-lamb  business.  Let  us  summarize 
the  important  points  of  the  lamb-raising  systems  followed 
by  the  Southern  farmers,  and  see  to  what  degree  they  may 
be  carried  out  in  the  Middle  West  or  corn  belt. 

1.  The  Middle  West  farmer  can  provide  barns  and  sheds 
that  furnish  satisfactory  protection  for  early  lambs. 


"  S 

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ES 


121 


122  SHEEP  FEEDING 

2.  Blue-grass  pastures   and  winter  grain  crops  can  be 
made  available  throughout  a  large  part  of  the  fall,  winter, 
and  early  spring. 

3.  Stomach  worms  and  scab  can  be  effectually  combated 
on  well-conducted  sheep  farms. 

4.  Western  ewes  that  are  superior  to  the  Southern  ewes 
can  be  readily  obtained  anywhere  in  the  corn  belt. 

5.  If  the  Middle  West  farmer,  when  using  a  Down  ram, 
has  trouble  in  getting  Western  ewes  to  drop  their  lambs 
during  January,  February,  and  March,  he  can  use  a  Dorset 
and  keep  the  ewes  that  come  from  the  Dorset  cross  for  his 
breeding  flock. 

6.  Lambs  should  come  early  and  be  disposed  of  before 
July. 

7.  If  there  is  a  possibility  that  not  all  the  lambs  will  be 
sold  before  they  are  five  months  old,  they  should  be  docked 
and  castrated. 

8.  Flocks  of  more  than  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  should  not  be  kept  together,  and  pas- 
tures should  be  rotated  and  forage  crops  used. 

9.  Lamb  clubs  should  be  formed  in  every  community 
where  there  are  sheep,  for  the  purpose  of  selling  lambs  and 
wool. 

10.  In  short,  provide  green  crops  for  late  and  early 
pasturing;  use  grade  ewes  and  a  Dorset  or  Down  ram; 
breed  for  early  lambs  that  are  to  be  sold  not  later  than  the 
last  of  June ;  and  sell  and  buy  all  sheep  products  through 
a  well-organized  lamb-and-wool  club. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A  SHORT  LIST  OF  USEFUL  BOOKS 

CARMAN,  E.  A.,  HEATH,  H.  A.,  MINTO,  JOHN.  Special  Report  on  the 
Sheep  Industry  of  the  United  States.  Part  I,  Sheep  Industry  East 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  Part  II,  Sheep  Industry  West  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River.  Published  by  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  1892.  1000  pages,  illustrated. 

CLARKE,  JAMES  WILLIAM.  Shepherd  Boy.  (A  book  published  by  a 
practical  and  experienced  man,  —  associate  editor  of  The  Ameri- 
can Sheep  Breeder,  —  containing  a  fund  of  valuable  knowledge.) 
Published  by  the  American  Sheep  Breeder  Co.,  Chicago,  111.  330 
pages,  illustrated. 

CLARKE,  JAMES  WILLIAM.  Shepherd  Boy  :  the  Fitting  of  Sheep  for 
the  Show  Ring  and  Market.  Published  by  Draper  Publishing  and 
Supply  Co.,  Chicago,  111.,  1900.  248  pages,  illustrated. 

MILLER,  H.  P.  and  H.  H.,  and  WING,  J.  E.  The  Winter  Lamb.  (An 
excellent  little  book  on  Dorsets  and  their  possibilities.)  Published 
by  News  Print,  Mechanicsburg,  Ohio,  1901  (there  are  later  edi- 
tions). 62  pages,  illustrated. 

MORRELL,  L.  A.  The  American  Shepherd.  Published  by  Harper  & 
Brothers,  New  York,  1846.  440  pages,  illustrated. 

RANDALL,  HENRY  S.,  LL.D.  The  Practical  Shepherd.  Published  by 
George  E.  Woodward,  New  York,  1863.  450  pages,  illustrated. 

RUSHWORTH,  DR.  WILLIAM  A.  The  Sheep.  Published  by  Buffalo 
Review  Co.,  Buffalo,  N.Y.,  1899.  500  pages,  illustrated. 

SHAW,  THOMAS.  Sheep  Husbandry  in  Minnesota.  Published  by  Webb 
Publishing  Co.,  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  1901.  200  pages,  illustrated. 

STEWART,  HENRY.  Domestic  Sheep.  Published  in  Chicago,  111.,  1898. 
370  pages,  illustrated. 

The  Shepherd's  Manual.  Published  by  Orange  Judd  Co.,  New  York, 
1880.  260  pages,  illustrated. 

WING,  JOSEPH  E.  Sheep  Farming  in  America.  (A  modern  and  valu- 
able book.)  Published  by  Sanders  Publishing  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 
350  pages,  illustrated. 

123 


124  SHEEP  FEEDING 

WRIGHTSON,  JOHN.  Sheep  :  Breeds  and  Management.  (Book  No.  1 
of  a  series  of  live-stock  handbooks.)  Published  by  Vinton  and  Co., 
London,  1895.  230  pages,  illustrated. 

YOUATT,  WILLIAM.  Sheep:  their  Breeds,  Management,  and  Diseases: 
the  Mountain  Shepherd's  Manual.  Published  by  R.  Baldwin, 
London,  1837.  568  pages,  illustrated. 

YOUATT,  WILLIAM.  Sheep:  their  Breeds,  Management,  and  Diseases  : 
Breeds  and  Management  of  Sheep  in  the  United  States.  Pub- 
lished by  Orange  Judd  Co.,  New  York,  1848  (revised  edition, 
1885).  159  pages,  illustrated. 

BULLETINS 

COLORADO  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  32,  Sheep  Feeding  in  Colorado.    1894. 

Bulletin  52,  Pasturing  Sheep  on  Alfalfa ;  Raising  Early  Lambs. 
1898. 

Bulletin  75,  Lamb-Feeding  Experiments.    1901. 
ILLINOIS  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  129,  Market  Classes  and  Grades  of  Sheep.    1908. 

Circular  125,  Sheep  Industry  from  the  Market  Standpoint.  1909. 
INDIANA  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  80,  Sheep  Scab.    1898. 

Bulletin  94,  Diseases  of  Sheep.    1902. 
IOWA  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  17,  Feeding  Lambs  (with  other  matter).    1891. 

Bulletin  18,  Experiments  with  Sheep  (with  other  matter).  1891. 

Bulletin  33,  Feeding  Lambs  (with  other  matter).    1895. 

Bulletin  35,  Lamb  Feeding,  II ;  Fattening  Range  Lambs ;  Dis- 
eases of  Sheep  in  Iowa. 

Bulletin  48,  Fattening  Range  Lambs ;  Fattening  Lambs  in  Com- 
parison with  Yearlings.    1899. 

Bulletin  63,  Sheep-Feeding  Experiments.    1901. 
MICHIGAN  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  74,  Foot  Rot  in  Sheep.    1890. 

Bulletin  84,  Roots  vs.  Silage  for  Fattening  Lambs.    1891. 

Bulletin  107,  Fattening  Lambs.    1893. 

Bulletin  114,  Fattening  Lambs.    1893. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  125 

Bulletin  128,  Fattening  Lambs.    1894. 

Bulletin  178,  The  Production  and  Marketing  of  Wool.  1899. 
MINNESOTA  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  16,  Sheep  Scab  and  how  to  cure  it.    1890. 

Bulletin  44,  Fattening  Steers  and  Lambs  in  Winter.    1895. 

Bulletin  57,  Fattening  Lambs  in  Winter.    1896. 

Bulletin  59,  Fattening  Lambs  and  Wethers  in  Winter.    1898. 

Bulletin  75,  Fattening  Lambs.    1901. 

Bulletin  78,  Experiments  in  Sheep  Husbandry.    1902. 
MISSOURI  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  53,  Breeding  Experiments  with  Sheep.    1898. 

Bulletin  entitled  Sheep  Farming  in  Missouri,  Missouri  State 

Board  of  Agriculture.    1909. 
MONTANA  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  21,  Sheep  Feeding.    1898. 

Bulletin  27,  Live  Stock  Feeding  Tests ;  Beef  Cattle,  Lambs,  and 
Swine.    1899. 

Bulletin  39,  Sheep  Feeding  in  Montana.    1901. 

Bulletin  47,  Sheep  Feeding.    1902. 

Bulletin  59,  Sheep  Feeding  for  the  Years  1904-1905.    1905. 
NEBRASKA  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  66,  Sheep-Feeding  Experiments  in  Nebraska.    1900. 

Bulletin  71,  Sheep-Feeding  Experiments  in  Nebraska,  II.   1900. 
OHIO  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  91,  The  Lung  and  Stomach  Worms  in  Sheep.    1897. 

Bulletin  117,  Stomach  Worms  in  Sheep.    1899. 

Bulletin  179,  Fattening  Range  Lambs  —  a  Comparison.    1906. 

Bulletin  187,  Fattening  Range  Lambs. 
UNITED  STATES  :  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry. 

Bulletin  19,  Inspection  of  Meats  for  Animal  Parasites.    Part  I, 
Flukes  and  Tapeworms  of  Sheep. 

Bulletin  21,  Sheep  Scab. 

Bulletin  63,  Foot  Rot  in  Sheep. 

Bulletin  66,  Gid  Parasite  in  Sheep. 

Bulletin  77,  Cattle,  Sheep,  and  Hog  Feeding  in  Europe. 

Circular  18,  Sheep  Industry  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and 
France. 

Circular  94,  Foot  Rot  in  Sheep. 


126  SHEEP  FEEDING 

Circular  102,  Stomach  Worms  in  Sheep. 

Orders  (regarding  inspection,  shipment,  exports,  imports),  etc. 
The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  and  the 
Yearbook  articles ;  the  latter  are  indexed  in  each  volume. 
UNITED  STATES  :  Farmers'  Bulletins. 
Bulletin  49,  Sheep  Feeding. 
Bulletin  98,  Raising  Sheep  for  Mutton. 
Bulletin  159,  Scab  in  Sheep. 
WISCONSIN  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  32,  Feeding  Grain  to  Lambs.    1891. 
Bulletin  41,  Feeding  Grain  to  Lambs  for  Market.    1892. 
Bulletin  58,  Rape:  its  Growth  and  Value  for  Soiling  and  Fatten- 
ing Sheep.    1895. 
Bulletin  95,  Observations  on  Sheep  Breeding.    (From  Station 

Records.)    1901. 

The  Annual  Reports  since  1900  contain  very  valuable  informa- 
tion on  sheep. 
WYOMING  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

Bulletin  47,  Lamb-Feeding  Experiments.    1900. 

Bulletin  51,  Sheep  Feeding  on  the  Range;  Lamb  Feeding,  IF. 

1901. 
Bulletins  64  and  68,  Feeding  Experiments  with  Lambs.    1903- 

1905. 
Bulletin  69,  Digestion  Experiments  with  Wethers.    1905. 

PERIODICALS 

THE  SHEPHERD'S  CRITERION. 

Published  monthly  in  Chicago.    Prior  to  1905,  published  under 

the  name  Wool  Markets  and  Sheep. 
AMERICAN  SHEEP  BREEDER  AND  WOOL  GROWER. 

Published  monthly  in  Chicago,  since  1891. 
NATIONAL  LIVE  STOCK  BULLETIN. 

Published  monthly  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  since  1907.  From 
1902  to  1907,  published  under  the  name  The  American 
Shepherd's  Bulletin;  prior  to  1902,  under  the  name  The 
Shepherd's  Bulletin. 


INDEX 


Alfalfa,  54,  92 

Barns,  sheep-feeding,  72 

Beet  pulp,  65 

Blue  grass  and  corn,  53,  92 

Books  on  sheep,  123 

Bulletins  on  sheep,  124,  125 

Buyer,  the,  106 

Buying  the  feeders,  26 

Catch  crops,  in  corn,  39-43,  49,  77, 
82  ;  as  a  saving  of  corn  in  fat- 
tening sheep,  90 

Classification  of  native  and  "West- 
ern market  sheep,  1 

Climate,  ideal,  for  Western  sheep,  9 

Climatic  conditions,  duplication  of, 
in  selection  of  feeders,  18 

Concentrates,  value  of,  66 

Condition  of  sheep,  consideration 
of,  in  buying  feeders,  36 ;  ways 
of  determining,  101 

Corn,  with  blue  grass,  53, 92 ;  with  a 
catch  crop  of  cowpeas  and  rape, 
39-43,  77-83  ;  the  standard  grain 
for  sheep,  68,  70  ;  amount  neces- 
sary to  fatten  a  sheep,  90 

Cornfield  feeding  of  sheep,  results 
following,  94 

Cowpeas,  as  a  catch  crop  in  corn, 
39-43,  77-81;  grown  alone,  84; 
ways  of  planting,  86 

Cull  sheep,  native,  6 ;  Western,  17 


Dogs,  sheep  damaged  by,  46 
Dry-lot  feeding,  61 


Early  market  for  lambs,  109 
Early  pasturing,  possibilities  of ,  111 
Early-lamb  business,  in  the  South, 

109  ;  summary  of,  120 
Ewes,    native,    6 ;    Western,    16 ; 

when   a    good    investment,  21 ; 

inexpensive  in  the  South,  112 
Experimental  feeding,  results  of,  21 

Fat  lambs,  proper  weight  for,  103 
Fat  sheep,  marketing  of,  99,  108 
Feeders,  when  lambs  excel  as,  19 
Feeding,    some  results  of   experi- 
mental, 21 
Feeding  characteristics  of  yearlings 

and  wethers,  20 

Feeding  sheep,   selection   of,    18 ; 
when   and   where  to  purchase, 
26-33  ;  kind  to  buy,  33-36  ;  how 
to    purchase,   36-38  ;   profitable 
systems  for,  39-74  ;  a  green-feed 
ration,  39-48 ;    pasturing  down 
a  forage  crop  grown  by  itself, 
48  ;  pasturing  down  corn,  using 
a  catch  crop,  pasture,  or  hay  for 
roughness,  49-58  ;  feeding  corn 
on  a  blue-grass  pasture,  58-61  ; 
feeding  in  the  dry  lot,  shed,  or 
barn,  61-76 
Feeding  stations,  76 
Feeding  yard,  arrangement  of,  64 
Field  peas,  89 
Flocks,  handling  the,  112 
Forage  crops  grown  alone,  48 
Form,  consideration  of,  in  buying 
feeding  sheep,  34 


127 


128 


SHEEP  FEEDING 


Grain,  65 

Handling  the  flocks,  112 
Hay,  when  to  feed,  94 
Hurdles,  in  pasturing,  88 

Lambs,  Western,  13  ;  excelling  as 
feeders,  19  ;  fat,  proper  weight 
for,  103  ;  for  early  market,  109  ; 
selling  the,  118 

Lambing  season  of  Western  sheep,  8 
Legumes  for  sheep  pasture,  86 
Leguminous  hay  and  corn,  54 

Market,  buying  feeders  on  the,  30  ; 

points   to    watch    on   the,    107 ; 

raising  lambs  for  early,  109 
Marketing  the  fat  sheep,  99-108 
Merino  blood  in  Western  sheep,  8 

Native  sheep,  classification  of,  2-6 

Pasturing  of  crops,  sometimes  an 
injury,  84  ;  a  fundamental  prac- 
tice, 97,  98 

Pasturing  possibilities,  early,  111 

Periodicals  on  sheep,  126 

Purchase  of  feeding  sheep,  36-38 

Quality,  consideration  of,  in  buy- 
ing feeding  sheep,  34 

Rams,   native,    6  ;     Western,    17  ; 

Southdown,  112 

Range,  buying  feeders  on  the,  27 
Rape,  grown  in  corn,  39,  42,  52, 

81-84  ;  grown  alone,  84 
Ration  for  sheep,  39 
Regions  for  Western  sheep,  9-13 
Roughness,  important  for  cornfield 

feeding,  52  ;  proportion  of  grain 

to,  70 ;  how  secured,  89 


Salt  for  sheep,  46 

Screenings,  66,  67 

Selection  of  feeding  sheep,  18, 33-36 

Selling  the  lambs,  118 

Shearing,  effect  of,  74 

Shipping   sheep,    suggestions   for, 

104 
Shrinkage   during   transportation, 

104 
South,  early-lamb  business  in  the, 

109  ;  grade  ewes  in  the,  112 
Southdown  rams,  112 
Soy  beans,  88 
Summary,  of  System  I  for  feeding 

sheep,    44 ;    of   System   III   for 

feeding  sheep,  56  ;  of  early-lamb 

business,  120 
Systems  for  feeding  sheep,  39-76 

Transportation,  shrinkage  during, 
104 

Undergrowth  in  the  cornfield,  re- 
sults from  using,  43-44 ;  methods 
of  planting,  77-83 

Weight,  an  important  factor  in 
buying  feeding  sheep,  33 ;  for 
fat  lambs,  103  ;  of  yearlings,  103 

Western  ewes,  16 

Western  lambs,  13 

Western  rams  and  cull  sheep,  17 

Western  sheep,  8  ;  in  cornfields,  90 

Western  wethers,  16 

Western  yearlings,  14 

Wethers,  native,  6  ;  Western,  16  ; 
weight  of,  103  ;  feeding  charac- 
teristics of,  20 

Yearlings,  native,  5  ;  Western,  14  ; 
feeding  characteristics  of,  20; 
weight  of,  103 


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